FDA needs to beef up resources
The Senate wants to provide the Food and Drug Administration with more resources to do its job. John Dimsdale reports with a smaller staff and increased food import scares, the help could be vital.
FDA consumer safety officer Teresa Fox (left) demonstrates inspection technique on a container of crab meat to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt (center) and FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach (right). (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
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Scott Jagow: The Food and Drug Administration is a pretty important agency, wouldn't you say? It has seemed all the more important lately. But a panel of experts says the FDA is in rough shape. It doesn't have enough resources.
Today, the Senate will take up this issue. More from John Dimsdale.
John Dimsdale: Drug recalls and food scares raised questions about the FDA's ability to regulate a growing number of products.
William Hubbard: The FDA has actually lost about a thousand people in the last three years. So something needs to change or the agency will continue to go downhill.
William Hubbard is a former associate FDA commissioner. He thinks Congress should double the agency's budget for inspecting food.
Hubbard: Mexico last year, after the spinach outbreaks in California, announced it was going to consider banning the importation to Mexico of American fruits and vegetables. If that kind of thought process takes hold around the world, our food industry is in tremendous jeopardy.
Sixty percent of the fresh fruit and vegetables Americans eat comes from overseas. The Senate Health Committee today considers legislation giving the FDA more resources to inspect and block contaminated food imports.
In Washington, I'm John Dimsdale for Marketplace.
