F.D.A. Chief Lauds Food Safety Bill

nytimes.com — Margaret A. Hamburg, the new commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, plunged into the contentious debate over how to fix the nation’s food safety system. In her first appearance before Congress as commissioner, Dr. Hamburg told the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health that a safety overhaul sponsored by several leading Democrats was “a major step in the right direction,” but that her agency would need more money to carry it out. That legislation, still in draft, includes requirements that all food manufacturers write and carry out safety plans, pay an annual registration fee of $1,000 to the F.D.A. and keep track of the distribution of all food products. The agency would be required to inspect every food facility in the country at least once every four years, with high-risk ones being inspected every 18 months.

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