Frank Yiannas, FDA’s deputy commissioner for food policy and response, recently published a Q&A in which he addresses many questions pertaining to the nationwide food supply directed to FDA in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
This comes in the midst of a number of problems that the virus poses upon the U.S. food supply chain, and a number of ways in which food suppliers have responded to the crisis thus far.
 
Some of the nation’s largest food manufacturing facilities have closed due to very large viral outbreaks onsite, and staffing shortages are rampant due to the fallout of the coronavirus. At the same time, a huge shift in logistics has been made by any business deemed essential in order to mitigate any potential transmission of the virus. Panic-buying behavior at the consumer level has resulted in grocery stores experiencing shortages nationwide due to an immediate surge in demand.
 
Farmers have been dumping milk and plowing perfectly edible crops into the soil in staggering amounts, claiming that they must let tens of millions of pounds of produce go to waste since they can’t be sold to schools and restaurants, which have been shut down by social distancing mandates in each state’s respective “state of emergency” mandates. This is because the food banks and organizations which remain open during the crisis only have so much capacity for donations, and creating adequate distribution patterns in response to the ongoing shutdowns on such short notice can’t be done with the current tools at the country’s disposal.
 
Yiannas said that despite the ubiquitous shortages seen on grocery store shelves, persisting more than one month after the pandemic began disrupting daily life in America, there are no true shortages, and that the retail supply chian remains strong in adjusting to the unprecedented surge in consumer demand.
 
“For those products that have been out of stock, manufacturers and retailers of both human and animal foods are working around the clock to replenish shelves,” Yiannas said. “And we are working closely with the food industry to monitor for disruptions in the supply chain that could cause shortages and to work on solutions to help avoid that. I know that these are uncertain times. But we continue to advise consumers that there is no need to buy more food than you need for a week or two for your family and pets and to leave some for others.”
 
Yiannas reasserted that FDA does not foresee the need to recall any products due to COVID-19 incidents at facilities in any supply chain, and that food products are believed by the agency to be unconditionally safe in terms the fact that COVID-19 is not a foodborne illness. “Because of the way that this virus is transmitted, we do not anticipate that food products would need to be recalled or be withdrawn from the market if a person who works on a farm or in a food facility tests positive for COVID-19.
 
Yiannas said that FDA is in talks with industry stakeholders and federal partners to deal with the shortages for what they are- not a supply problem, but a distribution problem. Additionally, he said that the agency’s recent rolling back of regulations which prohibit food products packaged for use in restaurants from being sold in retail in order to alleviate any unnecessary red tape. The agency also does not intend to object to restaurants and other non-retail entities selling foods directly to consumers that are not labeled for retail sale. The guidance for how restaurant-labeled products may be sold can be found online
 
“For example, flour that is in short supply in five-pound bags at the grocery store may be available to restaurants and bakeries in 50-pound bags,” Yiannas said. “Further, FDA has taken steps to provide flexibility with packaging and lageling requirements in an effort to reduce food waste in these difficult times. We have released guidance documents to help clear the path to the retail market for certain foods.”
 
“In some cases, it may be possible to use excess foods to feed animals,” Yiannas continued. “FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) has posted a guide for safely distributing unused human food for use in animal food.”
 
Yiannas further elaborated on the scope of FDA’s activity in the wake of the social distancing measures the agency has taken since the crisis began.
 
Out of concern for FDA investigators, state inspectors, and workers, FDA is not conducting in-person routine surveillance inspections of farms and food facilities in the U.S., aside from “mission critical” inspections which could be necessitated by natural disasters, outbreaks of foodborne illness, Class 1 recalls, and, in some cases, inspections at facilities with poor track records.
 
“We have other tools and authorities to help ensure the safety of imported foods, including product examinations at the ports of entry and the use of PREDICT, our risk-based import screening tool to focus our examinations and sample collections,” Yiannas said.
 
FDA is also conducting a number of remote inspections involving the electronic submission of records by importers covered by the Foreign Supplier Verification Programs requirements. Additionally, Yiannas attributed the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), which shifts the paradigm on food safety from detection to prevention, as a regulatory measure that will put certain safety nets in place in lieu of less inspection activity on part of FDA.
 
“FDA-regulated facilities are required to have preventive controls in place each and every day to ensure the foods they produce are safe,” Yiannas said. “Industry has the primary responsibility to ensure the foods they produce are safe and by and large, they’re doing an amazing job at providing safe and available food to consumers.”
 
“Most of the compliance dates have arrived for the major FSMA rules that put science and risk-based controls in place for the growing, production, packing, holding, transporting, and importing of the foods that Americans consumers serve their families and feed their animals,” Yiannas continued. “Some inspections are temporarily on hold, but the food industry is still required to meet these requirements- that has not changed.”
 
Additionally, FDA’s network of agents who respond to and investigate outbreaks of foodborne illness is still fully staffed and fully operational.
 
Yiannas said that he believes there will be lessons learned from this pandemic that will inform the way that FDA conducts its business in the years to come, when a post-pandemic “new normal” is established. He believes the primary takeaways will be supply chain transparency, and safeguards in place to mitigate food waste. He believes that on the other end of this crisis, a deepening of the public-private partnership between FDA and the food industry will result in a greater conservation and resiliency in the nation’s food supply.
 
“One aspect of this is that consumers are increasingly going to want to know more about hteir food- where it was grown or produced and what measures have been taken to ensure that it is safe for them to eat,” Yiannas said. “I also think some of the challenges we have been facing show the importance of having a dynamic, inter-operable, smarter food system that allows foods to be used when and where they are needed. AS part of our New Era of Smarter Food safety initiative, we want to enable a more digital, traceable food system. This type of food system will increase transparency and resiliency. For example, it could help us anticipate and prepare us to address the kind of supply chain imbalances we are seeing now.”