Obama proposes new agency to consolidate US food safety system

In his Fiscal Year 2016 Budget, President Barack Obama requested creation of a new agency under the HHS that would consolidate food safety components of the FDA and the U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service.

The new stand-alone agency would operate independently from the FDA and regulate food safety inspections, enforcement, applied research and outbreak response and mitigation, according to the budget proposal.

Similarly, Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., recently introduced a bill called the Safe Food Act of 2015 (S.287) to the Senate that would unify food safety into one agency called the Food Safety Administration.

“A single Federal food safety agency would provide focused, centralized leadership, a primary voice on food safety standards and compliance with those standards and clear lines of responsibility and accountability that will enhance both prevention of and response to outbreaks of food-borne illnesses,” according to the budget proposal.

Reference:

The President’s Fiscal Year 2016 Budget. 3.6.2 Food Safety. Available at: https://medium.com/budget-document/reorganizing-government-reforming-the-government-to-win-in-the-global-economy-bf84a1e17c59. Accessed February 3, 2015.

S.287. Safe Food Act of 2015. Available at: https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/287/actions. Accessed February 3, 2015.