[Quote]On Tuesday, the Obama administration released a rule to deal with the nation’s egg problem and used the moment to promise a sweeping overhaul of the system to ensure the safety of spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, melons, beef and chicken — foods that lead to millions of illnesses and thousands of deaths a year.
In a White House ceremony, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. told an audience of two cabinet secretaries, Congressional leaders and food regulators that the administration would make safer foods a priority.
“There are few responsibilities more basic or more important for the government,” he said, “than making sure the food our families in America eat is not contaminated and is safe.”
Most of the measures announced Tuesday are more aspirational than actual. The Agriculture Department promised to develop new standards to reduce salmonella levels in chickens and turkeys by the end of the year. The Food and Drug Administration promised to advise the food industry by the end of the month on how to prevent contamination of tomatoes, melons, spinach and lettuce. And within three months the F.D.A. plans to release advice about how farmers, wholesalers and retailers can build systems to trace contaminated foods quickly from shelf to field.
But many rules that even industry representatives call essential are years away. “We’ve got to move to mandatory regulatory standards, and this is a step along the way,” said Michael Taylor, a food specialist who is a senior adviser at the food and drug agency.[/quote]Emphasis mine.