More Money for Food Safety Is Sought

WASHINGTON — Two days after announcing a large-scale recall of raw tomatoes, the Bush administration asked Congress on Monday to give the Food and Drug Administration an additional $275 million in next year’s budget to help improve the safety of the nation’s food supply.
“I would like to once again strongly urge Congress to act quickly to enhance the safety of food and medical products,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Michael O. Leavitt in an evening conference call with reporters.
With the added money, the F.D.A. would open offices in China, India and Central America and provide more inspections of food and medical products, Mr. Leavitt said. The agency would also hire another 490 people in addition to hires the agency already planned.
“We’ll be able to expand the total workforce by 1,500 people, or 15 percent growth,” the food and drug commissioner, Andrew C. von Eschenbach, said.
The announcement comes after a series of food and drug safety problems led a panel of outside advisers to the agency to conclude that American lives were in danger because the F.D.A. lacked the money, the staff and the scientific expertise to protect them...


Read the full article by Gardiner Harris at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/10/washington/10fda.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=food+safety&st=nyt&oref=slogin