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[bob ford <bobford79 AT yahoo.com>]

this article is in this am NYT.  Read the second paragraph carefully.  The 
beauracrats at the FDA are getting ready for much more power during the 
upcoming administration and congress.  They desire to stop food problems "at 
the souce" including "domestic" sources.  Now, you really think they will be 
going after big ag, or will it be the small farmer who becomes regualted to 
the point of t errorism

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Editorial

Grading Progress on Food Safety 

 
Published: December 6, 2008 

The Food and Drug Administration is claiming considerable progress over the 
past year in protecting the nation’s food supply from pathogens and toxic 
substances. But the steps described in its self-assessment warrant only a 
so-so grade. 

 The agency released a report this week describing what officials call a 
“hugely ambitious” campaign to redesign the whole approach to food 
inspection. The goal is to root out tainted food — whether produced abroad or 
in this country — at the earliest stages of the production and distribution 
process while being ready to respond quickly if pathogens start reaching 
consumers.

The philosophy is sound. Imported foods are the focus of greatest concern. 
And it makes good sense to detect and eliminate contamination at a 
manufacturing or distribution plant abroad rather than trying to intercept 
tainted products at our borders. It is encouraging that the agency has 
already hired staff for new offices in China and India that will try to 
ensure the safety of food products before they are exported. It also has 
plans to open offices in Europe, Latin America and the Middle East as well.

The agency also deserves credit for approving the use of irradiation to kill 
bacteria on spinach and iceberg lettuce; for developing methods to detect 
even trace levels of melamine, a contaminant that has sickened a horrifying 
number of infants in China; for inspecting some 5,900 “high risk” domestic 
food establishments; and for starting to hire more than 100 new employees to 
conduct inspections and collect samples.

None of this is enough to ease concerns over the safety of the food supply. 
The F.D.A. regulates some 65,000 food firms in this country. Inspecting 5,900 
of them is only a modest beginning. While it is useful to have offices 
abroad, it is not yet clear how effectively they will be given some 
countries’ resistance to admit problems.

By most accounts, the F.D.A. is still vastly underfinanced to carry out its 
widening responsibilities. The Obama administration and the next Congress 
will need to determine how much more money can be provided and what 
additional legislative authority is needed to trace contaminants through the 
food supply and recall tainted products.

They should also re-examine whether the Bush administration’s heavy reliance 
on the private sector to ensure safety needs to be rebalanced with more 
effective and vigilant regulation. 



http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/06/opinion/06sat2.html