Obama vows to improve the FDA

[babylonsister]

Obama vows to improve the FDA
@ 8:49 am by Jeremy P. Jacobs


President Barack Obama announced his appointments to the two top posts at the Food and Drug Administration in his weekly radio and Internet address on Saturday and promised an increased effort to make sure the country's food is safe.

Saying that the FDA's performance in recent years has been "unacceptable," Obama said Dr. Margaret "Peggy" Hamburg will be his FDA commissioner. Hamburg will be joined by Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, who will serve as principle deputy commissioner.

In the address, Obama highlighted recent food distribution problems. He mentioned the contaminated spinach sold in grocery stores in 2006 and the salmonella outbreak in 2007. And most recently, he noted bad peanut products led to the deaths of nine people.

The FDA has been "underfunded and understaffed," Obama said, "leaving the agency with the resources to inspect just 7,000 of our 150,000 food processing plants and warehouses each year. That means roughly 95% of them go uninspected."

"That is a hazard to public health," Obama added. "It is unacceptable. And it will change under the leadership of Dr. Margaret Hamburg."

more...

http://briefingroom.thehill.com/2009/03/14/obama-vows-to-improve-the-fda/

[babylonsister]

1. WH to form new Food Safety Working Group

Obama's FDA leader, food safety plans
Posted March 14, 2009 8:30 AM

The Swamp

by Mark Silva


President Barack Obama, announcing the appointments of Dr. Margaret Hamburg as Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, and Dr. Joshua Sharfstein as the Principal Deputy Commissioner today, also used his weekly Internet and radio address to announce the creation of a new Food Safety Working Group.

"I've often said that I don't believe government has the answer to every problem or that it can do all things for all people,'' the president said in his address this morning. "We are a nation built on the strength of individual initiative. But there are certain things that we can't do on our own. There are certain things only a government can do. And one of those things is ensuring that the foods we eat, and the medicines we take, are safe and don't cause us harm.''

The White House says the Food Safety Working Group will be chaired by the secretaries of Health and Human Services and Agriculture, coordinating agencies throughout the government in examining and upgrading food safety laws. The Department of Agriculture also will close a loophole to prevent diseased cows from entering the food supply. And, the government will invest in the FDA to substantially increase the number of food inspectors and modernize food safety labs, the White House says.

more...

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2009/03/obamas_fda_leader_food_safety.html#more