The FDA conference call to introduce their new Pet Health & Safety widget for blogs and other websites has ended with another avenue to help maximize transparency and speed important alerts to end users. This is in itself a good idea to make sure life-saving information goes viral. The alerts and tips in the widget are live and are published as the FDA receives them. But there’s the rub.
Of course we know that FDA does not have power over corporations and must wait for the “voluntary recall” report. We remain at the mercy of companies and whether they choose to hide and delay their announcement of product(s) problems.
I did send a follow-up question to the panel asking if there’s anything on the horizon that will change this calculus. Would it be wrong of me to say don’t hold your breath?
Here’s the FDA’s press release
Thanks for your reporting on this. I know someone who lost a dog during the big dog food troubles, and the speed and quality of information during that crisis was infuriating.
I added the widget to my site. It’s not much, but it’s a start. I think congress will need to get involved before the FDA can/will go further in making the pet food companies be more proactive.
Yes, and that's the other brick wall we bump up against. The FDA's brief does not include a lot of proactive tools, and those they have can't be well used without more staff. And since everyone's broke now…but as you say, it's a start, and one that help.