From the "What Are They Smoking?" department, this just in: The U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, said yesterday that he is "very confident that the food available to customers here in China is high quality and safe." (Also reported here.) The comments by Ed Schafer included no mention of the melamine contamination crisis in China that sickened thousands of infants there.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong reports finding illegal levels of melamine in eggs imported from China. The levels, as high as 4.7 parts per million, are nearly twice the US limit for melamine in food for human consumption (except for a 1 ppm limit for infants). Notably, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, along with the Food and Drug Administration, has regulatory authority over eggs sold in the U.S.

As the extent of melamine contamination continues to grow, there is a great potential for harm, even in the waning days of the Bush administration. If Chinese food producers believe they have been given a pass on food safety, they may feel motivated to send even more contaminated products to the United States. U.S. food manufacturers received their pass from the USDA Secretary in August.

Despite being faced with an alarming amount of food recalls and reports of sometimes fatal food borne illnesses such as E. coli, Salmonella, Listeriosis, and Botulism this year, the head of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Ed Schafer, has said that food safety in the US is doing just fine.

This comes as consumers are facing constant reports of federal government announcements about such recalls.
Some of these recalls originate from the largest meat processors and grocery chains in the US.

Another of Schafer's comments, made yesterday in China, is even more worrisome than his blanket assurance that Chinese food products are safe.

Schafer, who is here to attend the fifth China-US Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) scheduled for Thursday and Friday, also said the two sides should continue to cooperate on food safety.

"Globalization has resulted in more inter-dependent food systems, so we must all work together to protect consumers."

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He said it was "encouraging" that China was increasingly using systematic approaches, such as the draft food safety law, instead of end-product testing to ensure food safety. [China Daily]

Schafer's statement suggests that Chinese are not using end-product testing in addition to other food safety methods, but is cutting back on the amount of testing.

The melamine problem certainly is nothing to gloss over. A article published yesterday quotes Consumers Union senior staff scientist Michael Hansen, who says the melamine problem in the U.S. could be much larger than infant formula, it's current focus.

“The FDA has taken some action but there is a problem because they are only focusing on products that come directly from China. Those milk products can actually be shipped to another country, made into something and then sent into the United States,” he said.

Hansen also suggested that contamination of infant formula in the U.S. could be the result of milk contamination resulting from contaminated animal feed in the U.S. This past week, I wrote about a statement by the Nestle company blaming contaminated feed for the presence of melamine in milk products it markets in other countries.

In view of the circumstances, one of the first moves by the next administration should be to send a new delegation to China to make clear that the old way of doing things will no longer be tolerated, either by U.S. consumers or U.S. food safety regulators.