Sludge Watch ==> FDA plans to close 7 labs that test mad cow - food safety

[Maureen Reilly]

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/health/20061221-1429-fdalabs.html

ASSOCIATED PRESS

2:29 p.m. December 21, 2006

WASHINGTON – As many as seven of the federal laboratories that help 
safeguard the nation's food and drugs could close, an environmental and 
public health group said Thursday.
A proposed Food and Drug Administration plan to consolidate its network of 
labs could leave half of them shuttered, Public Employees for Environmental 
Responsibility said. The labs test food, cosmetics, drugs and other medical 
products for safety, purity, effectiveness and to ensure they are properly 
labeled. They also help investigate public health threats such as the recent 
outbreaks of E. coli in spinach and lettuce.


The group believes the closures could slow the response to a bioterrorism 
attack or outbreak of foodborne illness.
“There is no reason why these decisions have to be made in a black box,” 
said Jeff Ruch, the group's executive director.

An FDA spokeswoman had no immediate comment on the proposed closures.

In a Dec. 6 e-mail sent to staff of the FDA office that oversees the 
agency's field work, associate commissioner for regulatory affairs Margaret 
Glavin said a transformation leadership team would discuss in coming weeks 
which of the agency's labs would remain open. The consolidation would in 
part “maximum efficiencies,” Glavin wrote. She did not return messages left 
Thursday.

Although no laboratories were mentioned by name in Glavin's e-mail, the 
group said the list includes facilities in Cincinnati, Denver, Detroit, 
Kansas City, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle.

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, whose members include 
local, state and federal government workers, said it pieced the locations 
together from details culled from oral presentations made to FDA employees 
and a 1996 list of 10 labs the agency sought to close under a previous 
restructuring plan.



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On the Net:
Food and Drug Administration office of regulatory affairs: www.fda.gov/ora/
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility: www.peer.org/