Hope For the Food Safety System

With a nation-wide salmonella outbreak killing 7 and sickening people in 43 states, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced his plans to re-do the current food safety system. He hopes that an updated system would help protect the public from other dangerous food-related outbreaks.

"A modernized system would have as a goal prevention, early detection if it can't be prevented, and mitigation of any adverse impacts if something occurs," Reuters quoted Vilsack.

While some argue that the FDA (which has jurisdiction over 80% of the nation's food) and the USDA (which regulates poultry, beef, eggs and other meats) should merge, Vilsack responded that he thought that "...before there can be any conversation about merging of entities or a single agency or anything of that sort, you've got to get the foundation right."

“We need to do a better job of responding to challenges, apologizing for mistakes when we make them, empowering our employees to make decisions and drive change, and emphasizing a transparent and inclusive style of governing," Vilsack said.

See the full article here http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1628652/secretary_of_agriculture_hopes_to_heal_failing_food_safety_system/