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| Img source: USDA |
Food safety inspections are undeniably important. As a
result of these expertly-conducted investigations we can go about or daily
lives secure in the knowledge that a burger from the shop down the road isn’t
going to kill us. Okay, so that’s a dramatic example, but the point remains.
However, according to a recent audit conducted
by Oregon’s Secretary of State’s office, nearly a quarter of all food business
in Oregon are overdue for inspections. This amounts to some 2,841 companies
that are at least 3 months past due, including everything from dairies to
grocery stores.
This is a concern for obvious reasons; if inspections aren’t
taking place, how can we be sure that the establishment in question is
following industry regulations, and is therefore a safe place to eat? To add to
the problem, although businesses are automatically entered into a database once
3 months past their inspection date, the system does not log when businesses
are added to the list, meaning there is no way to tell if the establishments in
question are overdue by a matter of months or years.
According to the audit, the main cause of this backlog seems
to be a shortage of staff, coupled with a surge in the number of business
requiring inspections. At present, the limited staff are also kept busy with
other duties, further reducing the hours available to conduct inspections.
Another problem highlighted by the audit is a high level of staff turnover,
meaning institutional knowledge and expertise has been lost, while new staff
require time and training to get fully up to speed. These various factors seem
to have accumulated into something of a glaring issue for the state.
The audit did however give some recommendations as to how
the Oregon Department of Agriculture, the department responsible for the
backlog of inspections, could go about correcting some of these issues. These
recommendations include increasing staff levels and developing a succession
plan for retiring inspectors. The ODA has also been advised to ‘reconsider some
of its workload, provide more guidance to inspectors, and better track and
analyse data to inform these decisions.’
On the whole, these recommendations have been welcomed by
industry professionals with open arms, but only time will tell if they can have
any kind of substantial impact on Oregon’s growing backlog of inspections.
Sam Bonson
Sam
is an aspiring novelist with a passion for fantasy and crime thrillers. He is currently
working as a content writer, journalist & editor in an attempt to expand
his horizons.
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