FDA seeks public input on adulteration

FDA plans to hold a public workshop this spring to begin the task of combating profit-motivated adulteration of regulated products. The workshop, with date and location to be announced shortly, will allow government agencies, industry stakeholders, academics and the public to advise FDA on issues surrounding fake ingredients and adulterated products, according to FDA Deputy Commissioner for Policy Randall Lutter. At a meeting of FDA's Science Board Feb. 24 in Gaithersburg, Md., Lutter acknowledged that firms may not alert regulators to adulteration "if they're able to control these problems at a relatively early stage," since raising flags could be "embarrassing," he said. Current FDA regulations require notifications about adulterations only when affected products have been shipped, a policy that members of Congress have criticized while discussing the agency's ongoing response to contaminated peanut ingredients. Lutter said the agency is striving to solicit information in both public and confidential forums. To collect information confidentially, FDA Feb. 23 launched a Web site that allows anonymous reporting of adulteration of regulated products to the agency's Office of Criminal Investigations at www.fda.gov/oci/contact.html