Obama puts food safety on front burner
President Obama in his weekly address on Saturday announced the formation of a Food Safety Working Group to help upgrade the nation's troubled food safety system.
“We are a nation built on the strength of individual initiative. But there are certain things that we can’t do on our own,' Obama said. 'There are certain things that 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 president also announced the nomination of Margaret Hamburg to head the Food and Drug Administration. Since 2001, she has served as a senior scientist at the Nuclear Threat Initiative. However, she gained prominence in the public health field when she worked as commissioner of health in New York City from 1991 to 1997, and as assistant secretary of U.S. Health and Human Services Department from 1997 to 2001.
Obama also nominated Joshua Sharfstein, health commissioner of Baltimore, to deputy commissioner of the FDA.
In addition, the president said he would request that Congress spend another $1 billion to enhance the FDA's inspection force and laboratories.
Obama highlighted 'troubling trends' in the oversight of the country's food safety in recent years, citing the three-fold increase in reported food-borne illness due to contaminated fruits and vegetables.
He said the FDA is underfunded and understaffed to properly oversee the country's food safety. Obama noted that only about 7,000 of the 150,000 food processors and warehouses throughout the country are inspected each year, which he called 'unacceptable.'