“Offices don’t inspect, even then inspections don’t make food safe. It is up to the producers, the processors and the retailers. Inspections only hold people accountable. It is up to the industry to make food safe, not the inspection services -they are ultimately responsible for the products they produce.”

Or something like that as I, described as US-based food safety professor and blogger Doug Powell, chatted to the British reporter in France in the late Australian hours about a U.S. food safety policy decision.

Mark Astley of Food Quality News writes that US food safety and inspection efforts will not be hit, despite plans to close a third of Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) district offices, according to the US government.

The closures are part of the USDA’s Blueprint for Stronger Service plan, which will see the closure of almost 260 offices, facilities and labs across the US.

FoodQualityNews.com understands that the changes will impact inspection reporting structure but will not affect the inspection duties performed in the districts.