From the U.S. Government Accountability Office, www.gao.gov Transcript for: Watchdog Report: Safety of Foods Used in School Meals Audio interview by GAO staff with Lisa Shames, Director, Natural Resources and Environment Related GAO Work: GAO-11-376: School Meal Programs: More Systematic Development of Specifications Could Improve the Safety of Foods Purchased through USDA's Commodity Program Released on: May 3, 2011 [ Background Music ] [ Narrator: ] Welcome to GAO's Watchdog Report, your source for news and information from the Government Accountability Office. It's May 3, 2011. Through its commodity program, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, or USDA, provides foods like raw ground beef, cheese, poultry, and produce to schools taking part in the National School Meals programs. A group led by Lisa Shames, a director in GAO's Natural Resources and Environment team recently reviewed the food safety standards used by the commodity program. GAO's Jeremy Cluchey sat down with Lisa to learn more. [ Jeremy Cluchey: ] How does USDA's commodity program work to provide food to schools? [ Lisa Shames: ] This program provides low cost and free meals to more than 30 million children each day and accounts for about 15 to 20 percent of all the foods that are served in cafeterias. The formal name of the program is the National School Lunch and Breakfast program. USDA provides foods—these so-called commodities—to the schools, and it includes raw ground beef, mozzarella cheese, fresh produce, raw chicken. USDA purchases these foods from manufacturers, and through a competitive bidding process, sets purchasing specifications and thereby food safety standards. [ Jeremy Cluchey: ] You mentioned the program specifications for food that's provided to schools and your team compared those to the federal standards for the same foods that are available in the commercial market place, what did you find? [ Lisa Shames: ] We found that when it came to microbial contamination, the school meal standards were actually more stringent than the standards for the same foods that are sold commercially. We found that this was the case for 7 out of the 180 foods that are offered through the program. For example, the school meals program will reject raw ground beef if it tests positive for any salmonella, but in the commercial market, USDA regulations do tolerate a minimal amount of salmonella in the ground beef. This is similar for baby carrots, as well as for sliced apples. The school meals program requires tests for these foods but tests are not required for the foods to enter the commercial market. When we asked USDA program officials why they were more stringent specifications for these foods they told us that children were at a greater risk than the general population for any food borne illness. [ Jeremy Cluchey: ] You mentioned that the School Lunch Program specifications are more stringent for 7 of the approximately 180 foods provided to schools, how does USDA determine which foods should have more stringent specifications? [ Lisa Shames: ] Program officials told us that they selected these foods based on their own knowledge and in consultation with industry and with experts, but we found that they're not systematic in how they selected which foods warranted the more stringent specifications. For example, USDA has not developed more stringent specifications for foods that have been associated with food borne illness, such as cut up raw chicken or fresh produce. That's why we recommended that USDA document and review the scientific basis for their decisions and for the standards. [ Jeremy Cluchey: ] What else is GAO recommending USDA do to improve the safety of food provided to schools through this program? [ Lisa Shames: ] We also recommended that USDA share this information with the schools, specifically that there are more stringent specifications. Very few of the officials that we interviewed in the 18 school districts told us that there were aware of these more stringent specifications and if they did have knowledge of it they could make smarter decisions in their purchasing. GAO first made this recommendation back in 2003 and USDA didn't implement it so we made the recommendation again. [ Jeremy Cluchey: ] For parents of children who eat school meals every day, what's the take away from this report? [ Lisa Shames: ] The take away for parents is first and foremost that generally the food supply is safe, but what we did find is that some of the foods that are served to their children in the cafeteria actually meet more stringent specifications than the foods, the same foods that are served on the dinner table. USDA recognized that it needs to be more systematic in how it selects the foods that need to be subject to more stringent standards and agreed with all of our recommendations. [ Background Music ] [ Narrator: ] To learn more, visit GAO's Web site at GAO.gov and be sure to tune in to the next edition of GAO's Watchdog Report for more from the congressional watchdog, the Government Accountability Office.