— OPINION —
Thirty years ago this summer I went to work as administrator of USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) after the landmark Jack in the Box outbreak, caused by hamburger contaminated with a dangerous form of E. coli. Four young children died and hundreds of people
Continue Reading The clock is ticking on poultry safety
USDA finalizes policy to protect consumers from Salmonella in raw breaded stuffed chicken products
— OPINION —
Food Safety, like politics, is the art of the possible.
Sure, it would be great if, like Shiga-toxin producing E. coli in beef are considered adulterants, Salmonellas (at least the 30 plus known
Continue Reading Publisher’s Platform: Congrats to Biden, Vilsack, Esteban and Eskin
— OPINION —
Dear Editor,
As an advocate for comprehensive organizational change in FDA’s Food Program, I give Commissioner Califf and his team the credit they are due for the changes he announced this week. I still think that food inspectors should report to the Food Program leader, but the
Continue Reading Letter to the Editor: Credit where credit is due
The head of the Food and Drug Administration says his evolving plan to restructure the food side of the agency is moving forward with changes planned for regulatory affairs, but two key observers say the movement falls short of necessary steps to ensure the effectiveness of the reorganization.
FDA Commissioner
Continue Reading Some question the FDA commissioner’s plan for the reorganization of the agency’s regulatory office
ROSEM0NT, IL — The 25th Annual Food Safety Summit opted for a keynote panel presentation Wednesday instead of the more traditional keynote speaker.
But before that, the Food Safety Magazine Distinguished Service Award went to Michael R. Taylor, JD. Taylor is the retired Food and Drug Administration Deputy Commissioner for
Continue Reading Mike Taylor honored at keynote event of 25th Food Safety Summit
Three of FDA’s former food safety chiefs have come together today to submit comments to a U.S. House of Representative’s oversight committee focused on chain of command problems at the agency.
The former Food and Drug Administration officials who submitted the comments to the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on
Continue Reading Former FDA officials tell congressional committee that agency needs uninterrupted chain of command
— EXCLUSIVE —
I was given some time to talk with Dr. Califf about the recent call by the Regan-Udall task force he empowered to give recommendations as to how the food side of the FDA should be restructured. Here are his thoughts on how he is responding to those
Continue Reading Publisher’s Platform: Twenty-eight minutes with FDA Commissioner Califf
After much hullabaloo, the FDA commissioner has revealed a rough draft of a plan to reorganize the food side of the Food and Drug Administration.
At the center of the plan is the creation — or recreation — of a deputy commissioner of foods post that was eliminated by Commissioner
Continue Reading Commissioner details his plan to revamp organization, and supervision at FDA
Editor’s note: This column and profiles of the 16 food safety champions (four not pictured above) was originally published by Quality Assurance magazine. It is reprinted here with permission. To read profiles of the individual food safety professionals referenced in the column, please click here.
Twenty-five years ago, when I was administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), I helped put in place a new food safety regulatory program to prevent foodborne illness from meat and poultry. We created this program in response to the tragically historic
Continue Reading Our poultry safety regulation isn’t working: It’s past time to fix it
