Last week, the Obama administration announced new initiatives designed to improve food safety in the United States, which has had some high profile incidents of contamination in the past year.
First, the White House has established a new website, www.foodsafety.gov as a “Gateway to Government Food Safety Information.” The website serves as a clearinghouse of food safety information from the U.S. government, linking documents and resources from the FDA, CDC, Department of Agriculture, National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases, and others – in an attempt to provide citizens’ with information on preventing and reporting food safety issues.
The second major announcement concerned the planned establishment of a Deputy Commissioner for Foods at the FDA to directly oversee and coordinate government responses to reports of food contamination.
In the same press conference, the administration offered new details for bolstering the safety of the country’s egg products, which are particularly susceptible to salmonella contamination.
