If you thought the FDA had the power to recall dangerous food already, you’d be mistaken. Apparently, they need to “coax” the company into it. Changing this and increasing the agency’s budget are among the changes recommended by a new report by The Institute of Medicine, says Reuters.

The report said FDA should be given authority to suspend food company registrations for violations that threaten the public health, and the authority to mandate recalls. The FDA usually now must coax companies into voluntarily recalling dangerous foods.

Recent high-profile outbreaks, many involving produce such as lettuce, spinach, peppers and peanuts, have killed dozens of people and prompted an uproar from consumer groups.

The report concluded that the agency needs to be fundamentally reworked by Congress, and that simply pumping more money into it will have little effect.

The article ends with a sort of icky statistic, that 75% of seafood is imported and only 2% of all imported food is inspected.

FDA needs vision, and a few more teeth: report [Reuters]

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