FDA'S food facility registry

As of December 2003, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began requiring food facilities that manufacture, process, pack, or hold food for consumption in the United States to register their facilities with FDA. The purpose of this registration is to provide FDA with reliable information about food facilities. This information allows FDA to locate facilities during an outbreak of foodborne illness or to locate facilities for inspection. This evaluation determined the extent to which selected domestic food facilities registered with FDA and provided complete and accurate information for FDA's food facility registry. For this evaluation, we identified a sample of 141 food facilities. We conducted structured telephone interviews with the managers of those 141 facilities. In these interviews, we verified the information in the registry, asked for explanations where discrepancies existed, and asked managers about their familiarity with the registry requirements. We found that 5 percent of selected facilities failed to register with FDA, as required. Additionally, we found that 48 percent of selected facilities either failed to provide accurate information when they first registered or after changes in the facility's information, as required. Finally, we found that 52 percent of the facility managers at the selected facilities reported that they were unaware of FDA's registry requirements. Our review raises serious questions about the accuracy and utility of the registry and its usefulness in identifying food facilities that may be linked to an outbreak of foodborne illness.