Is Reform Coming to Food Inspection?

Until now, a motley crew of federal agencies was responsible for managing the safety of the U.S. food supply.

But following the recent 43-state salmonella outbreak eventually traced to peanut butter processed at a Blakely, Ga., plant, a growing number of people both inside and outside the new Obama administration have decided this crew should be considerably less motley and more streamlined.

Regulating a food supply that has grown more complex and globalized is proving too daunting a challenge for this patchwork of agencies to handle, critics contend.

What is often described as the shotgun approach to food inspection began decades ago, when part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture

Posted by Jim Langcuster at February 4, 2009 03:33 PM | TrackBack