News Published on 18 Mar, 2009
Obama appoints new FDA commissioners
President Barack Obama has announced the appointments of Dr Margaret Hamburg as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, and Dr Joshua Sharfstein as the principal deputy commissioner, as well as the creation of a Food Safety Working Group.
President Barack Obama
© Steve Dashiell
This Food Safety Working Group will be chaired by the secretaries of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture, and it will coordinate with other agencies and senior officials to advise the president on improving coordination throughout the government, examining and upgrading food safety laws and enforcing laws that will keep American people safe.
In addition, the president announced two measures to protect the American people: the Department of Agriculture will close a loophole to prevent diseased cows from entering the food supply. The government will invest in the FDA to substantially increase the number of food inspectors and modernise food safety labs.
Source: The White House