WASHINGTON -- President Obama on Monday proposed creating a food safety agency to better protect the food supply, reported USA Today.
The Obama administration would combine the food safety responsibilities of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) under one roof, with the possibility of absorbing another dozen or so agencies throughout the federal government that have some degree of responsibility. The new agency would be housed within the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), which already contains the FDA, said the report
The recommendation is part of his almost $4 trillion budget proposal for fiscal 2016.
"It's not about tradition. It's not about turf. It's about food safety," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters. "We have a system that no one can contend is as effective or efficient as it needs to be."
Currently, most safety and inspection duties are the responsibility of two agencies: the Agriculture Department's Food Safety & Inspection Service (FSIS), which is in charge of meat, poultry and processed eggs, and the FDA, which is responsible for much of the rest that encompasses about 80% of the food supply.
But the framework can often be confusing, the newspaper said. For example, while FSIS oversees processed egg products, FDA oversees shell eggs. In some cases, one food like a frozen pizza can have oversight from both agencies. The FDA oversees a cheese pizza and its ingredients, but if there is a meat topping the USDA becomes involved.
Vilsack said a single agency would expedite the sharing of information and ensure better coordination, cutting down on delays that could prevent the government from acting.
Colin O'Neil, director of government affairs with the Center for Food Safety, said a single food agency would create a "safer, healthier" food supply and lessen the likelihood of mistakes. "A single food agency would increase consumer confidence, more efficiently use taxpayer dollars and … better ensure that the safety of our food supply doesn't fall through the cracks," he told USA Today.
Congress would need to give the White House the authority to move forward with reorganization, something lawmakers may be reluctant to do. Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), have proposed legislation that would consolidate all 15 federal agencies with some food safety oversight into one group.
Rep. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) said she was reluctant to support the president's new food safety agency. "My concern with the president's proposal to consolidate food safety oversight, however, is that it lacks necessary details, including how such a merger would save taxpayers money, benefit producers and, most importantly, improve food safety," she told the paper. "This is a proposal that has been made in the past, but it's never received much traction without the additional information."
Click here to view the full USA Today report.
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