2.) Most of the 102 million pounds of food salvaged from the fire was released to the public with little apparent controversy. First, FDA did not adequately share information with KDHE about past problems it had experienced with a food owner’s consultant and his laboratories. FDA Did Not Adequately Communicate Important Information About Consultant and Laboratories

KDHE allowed several million pounds of food salvaged from the Americold fire to be sent to Minnesota on the basis of laboratory results submitted by a consultant to one of the food owners. However, FDA did not provide this information in a timely manner either to its Kansas City District Office or to the KDHE investigators overseeing the salvaging of the food. In March 1992, FDA provided Kansas with its Laboratory Procedures Manual, which spells out recommended sampling controls that FDA uses in monitoring imported foods. Chronology of Events Surrounding Food Shipments to Minnesota Salvager

	March 1992

The owner of 3.7 million pounds of food hired a consultant to sample and test the food to determine if it could be salvaged. August 1992 to Present

No illnesses have been attributed to the food shipped to the Minnesota salvager. Comments From the Food and Drug Administration

The following are GAO’s comments on the Food and Drug Administration’s letter dated January 12, 1995. GAO’s Comments

1. 2. 3. 4. The food was sold by the salvager before the tests were completed. 5.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the events surrounding a fire at a food storage warehouse in Kansas, focusing on the: (1) disposition of food salvaged from the facility; and (2) lessons learned from the incident that could be used to improve regulation of the food salvaging industry.

What GAO Found

GAO found that: (1) over half of the affected food was destroyed and the remaining 102 million pounds of food was released to the public after Kansas determined its salvageability; (2) about 3.7 million pounds of food was shipped to a salvager on the basis of laboratory results furnished by a consultant who was under investigation by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA); (3) although no illnesses were attributed to the food salvaged from the Kansas fire, potential public health risks were increased by shortcomings in FDA regulation of salvaged food; (4) FDA did not share important information with Kansas regarding its past problems with the consultant and his laboratories; and (5) FDA did not provide Kansas with guidance on food sampling controls that would have been useful in its oversight of the salvaging.