Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Terrorists Eye America's Dinner Tables?

Aired November 21, 2001 - 07:46   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Here's a very sobering thought the day before Thanksgiving: Authorities are concerned that the food you eat could become the target of a terrorist attack.

CNN's Jeanne Meserve explains the problem and just how the government hopes to fix it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The system that is intended to keep our food supply safe from terrorist attack and other risks makes no sense and may not do the job, critics say.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A cheese pizza is the jurisdiction of the Food and Drug Administration. A pepperoni pizza, the jurisdiction of the Department of Agriculture. A whole egg, agriculture -- a broken egg, FDA.

MESERVE: A dozen federal agencies have a part to play in the federal food safety system. The general accounting office calls it inefficient, inconsistent, and ineffective.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to consider this in light of homeland security, whether or not we want to have multiple organizations basically pass with the same responsibility or if we couldn't enhance our security, improve our efficiency.

MESERVE: The biggest chunk of food safety and security responsibility lies with the Food and Drug Administration, but right now FDA has fewer than 1,000 investigators to oversee 57,000 food establishments and 3.7 million imported food items.

The FDA doesn't have the authority to demand that those imported foods are produced under safety standards equivalent to the United States, and if contamination is found, the FDA cannot seize the adulterated food, and it has to go to court to seek a recall.

Since September 11, President Bush has proposed increasing the number of FDA investigators and legislation on Capitol Hill and would give the agency more money and more authority. But will even that be enough to deter or detect terrorist tampering with the food supply?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do not believe we are prepared, and I do not believe that any of the actions being taken now on Capitol Hill will prepare us.

MESERVE: The FDA says it is ready and is getting more so every day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are looking for ways to anticipate to a more intelligence gathering, and we know that over the long term, a stronger safety net of deterrence and prevention is (INAUDIBLE) help us.

MESERVE: Government officials say right now there is no specific terrorist threat against the food supply, but they know terrorists hit where you don't expect them.

Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com