President Barack Obama has made a number of key announcements regarding the safety of food in the US during his weekly video address, including a billion dollar investment to keep tainted food and contaminated medications out of the system.
“We are a nation built on the strength of individual initiative,” President Obama said. “But there are certain things that we can’t do on our own. 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.”
During the address, Obama revealed plans for the creation of a new Food Safety Working Group, to be chaired by the Secretaries of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture, which will focus on improving coordination throughout the government, examining and upgrading food safety laws, and enforcing laws that will keep the American people safe.
Obama also pledged a substantial increase in the number of food inspectors needed to modernize food safety labs. “Food safety is something I take seriously, not just as your president, but as a parent,” he added.
As part of the plan, President Obama has appointed Dr. Margaret (Peggy) Hamburg as the new commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Dr Joshua Sharfstein as principal deputy commissioner.
“Part of the reason is that many of the laws and regulations governing food safety in America have not been updated since they were written in the time of Teddy Roosevelt,” Obama explained.
“It’s also because our system of inspection and enforcement is spread out so widely among so many people that it’s difficult for different parts of our government to share information, work together, and solve problems. And it’s also because the FDA has been underfunded and understaffed in recent years, 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 per cent of them go uninspected. That is a hazard to public health. It is unacceptable. And it will change under the leadership of Dr Hamburg.”
Dr Hamburg’s appointment has already been welcomed by the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the Grocery Manufacturers' Association, among other organizations, for sending a clear message that food safety is top of the agenda for the Obama Administration.
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