FDA getting an Upgrade

The President has announced there will be new leadership and other changes made to ensure the safety of the U.S. Food Supply. As evident with the recent peanut salmonella outbreaks (which actually claimed the life of nine individuals), spinach scare, and tainted meat problems, the Bush-era allowed the American standard of food safety to decline. During Bush's time in office he allowed food and drug manufacturers to cut corners in order to make a bigger profit. President Obama said that the Bush Administration created a hazard to public health that is unacceptable and it really is. They ignored the worsening of food safety and had the Food & Drug Administration running like a highly ineffective politicized bureaucracy.

The FDA often lacked the financial support and personnel they needed to do their job effectively. I guess that while George W. was busy chasing down WMD's in Iraq that didn't exist and funding CEO's pay bonuses, our nation's food supply safety slipped through the cracks. I am glad to see that making sure that the foods America consumes and the medications that we depend on to keep us healthy are safe is going to finally be a top priority. What most people don't know is that about 93% of America's 150,000 food processing plants go without inspection each year. That personally makes me more than a little nauseous.

This week the President appointed former New York City health chief Margaret Hamburg to be the new FDA Commissioner. Joshua Sharfstein, Boston Health Commissioner is her deputy. Hamburg as well as Sharfstaein, have an outstanding reputation and a history of top performance. I am so happy about their appointment. As an American who both eats and takes medication, I would like to not have to worry about either my peanut butter sandwich or buspirone making me ill or in worst case scenario, doing me in. I actually do worry about these kinds of things when I go to the supermarket or when my doctor writes me a new prescription and I know it's not just my anxiety disorder that causes me to worry. I buy my beef from a certain supermarket because they have a higher standard when they buy and process. I buy my poultry and dairy products from another, and finally I go cross town for veggies.

I know that I am not the only one who feels this way because I have talked to other people who said they do similar things to try to ensure that their families are kept safe. Wouldn't it be grand if there was a set national standard made into a mandatory law that all meat manufacturers cut and process their meat the same, that all farmers use the least harmful chemicals in the growing of their food, and that all dairy products have to be pasteurized? I would love that and I really feel that Obama's announcements regarding the FDA and his plans to improve it and restore public confidence in the food and medicines we use are the first steps to that end result.