New Plan for Food Safety Unveiled

(Whitehouse.gov via Uptake Video)



President Biden, Chair of the Middle Class Task Force, along with Task Force Members Secretary Sebelius and Secretary Vilsack, announced today the findings of the President’s Food Safety Working Group. President Obama established the group in March to coordinate Federal efforts and develop short- and long-term agendas to make food safer.

Vice President Biden announced key actions that the Obama Administration is taking to improve the safety of the US food supply:

• Strengthening "traceback" so that contaminated food is quickly identified and removed from shelves and that people get quick information about problems;

• Instituting a new salmonella rule to prevent contamination in the egg industry;

• Issuing new FDA guidance to prevent e. coli O157:H7 contamination of leafy greens, melon, and tomatoes; and

• Implementing more thorough inspections to prevent e. coli and other pathogens at facilities that handle beef.

“Our goal is to overhaul the system so we can get better at both stopping food safety problems before they happen and almost as equally important moving quickly, much more quickly, when they do,” Biden said. “We need to create a more comprehensive, more rational, more effective approach to food safety. This is, when you think about it, pretty long overdue.”

Sebelius said that these are not just words on a page but rather are already being put into action. Sebelius and Vilsack also talked about a better trace-back system.

“In order to protect consumers and their families we are going to create a unified incident command system,” Vilsack said. “And within 90 days Federal agencies will implement this new incident command system to address outbreaks of food borne illness.”

They also said they will work to keep consumers in the loop and improve communications. An upgrade is planned to the Food Safety Web site.