The study examined the development of U.S. policies relating to food safety. In particular it explored the crucial role of the Food and Drug Administration, amidst the political influences and the roles of the technicians and the enduring institutional fragmentation, in particular characterised by the dualism between the FDA and Department of Agriculture.
On the basis of such problems, the influence of the recent Food Safety Modernisation Act is then established. Even though the institutional fragmentation is ongoing, it would seem, or rather is apparent that there is a willingness to endow the FDA with adequate resources (given the broad expansion in terms of its areas of responsibility). The legislative changes in the area of enforcement (e.g. the compulsoriness of recalls) and a different structuring of controls should equally guarantee greater efficacy precisely in tackling the considerable increase in the quantity of food products arriving from abroad.
