Typically, organizations and individuals only get recognized when things go wrong, but in fulfilling it's mission to promote and protect the public health, OhMyGov! has added the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to our list of federal government unsung heroes.
On June 5, 2008, the FDA alerted consumers nationwide that a salmonellosis outbreak appears to be linked to consumption of red Roma, raw red plum, raw red round tomatoes, or products that contain these types of raw red tomatoes shown below.
While the current tomato outbreak is receiving attention, take a look at other current food safety issues affecting us:
- USDA Bans Downer Cow Slaughter
- Salmonella Illnesses Linked to Recently Recalled Cereal
- Honduran Cantaloupes Linked To Salmonella
- Pills in Fish Sticks Spark Recall
- Fewer Food Inspectors, More Recalls
- Massive Beef Recall Follows Mad Cow Scare
- FDA Warns Of Contaminated Gulf Coast Seafood
- USDA Closes Plant Suspected Of Slaughtering Downer Cows
- Schools Drop Burgers From Menu After Downer Cow Scare
- Green Bean, Garbanzo Bean Recall Expanded
With all these issues affecting both the consumer and public health, it made sense for the the food and drug agency to release a "food protection plan" in November. Unfortunately, the Bush administration did not ask for the money to finance parts of it until Monday night.
The health and human services secretary, Michael O. Leavitt, said on Monday that he would amend the administration's budget request by asking for an additional $275 million for next year, $125 million of which would go to food protection.
But health experts said that the many problems that have caused food recalls in recent years, including those involving peanut butter, cantaloupe and spinach, were likely to worsen.
No one knows whether food has gotten more dangerous or whether the growing number of outbreaks results from better surveillance, said Dr. Patricia Griffin, the chief of the disease centers' enteric disease epidemiology branch. Both may be true, Dr. Griffin said.
Regarding the current tomato outbreak, Federal health officials said Tuesday that they hoped to announce soon the source of the salmonella outbreak associated with raw tomatoes that has sickened at least 167 people in 17 states and led restaurants and grocery stores to remove some types of raw tomatoes from their menus and shelves.
"We are getting closer to identifying the source or sources, said Julie Zawisza, a spokeswoman for the Food and Drug Administration. "
OhMyGov! congratulates the FDA for continuing to protect consumer health and champions their efforts to get the appropriate funding and staff charged with the seemingly impossible mission of protecting the American consumer health.
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[+] Government Job Spotlight: USDA Food Inspector
[+] Department of Health and Human Services
[+] Spotlight: Health And Human Service Secretary Michael Leavitt