Subscription Center
Mar 14, 2009 10:58 AM
President Barack Obama today tapped former New York City Public Health Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, 54, to head the embattled U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and announced creation of a new panel to examine and update food safety laws in the wake of an outbreak of salmonella that sickened hundreds.
Obama announced the moves during his weekly radio address in which he blamed a lack of food inspections and antiquated laws and regs for creating a "demoralized" FDA as well as conditions ripe for a string of food-borne infections over the past few years, including the recent salmonella outbreak linked to peanut butter and paste churned out at a contaminated Georgia plant.
"This is a hazard to public health," he said in his address. "It is unacceptable."
Obama today also named Baltimore Health Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein, 39, to be Hamburg's top deputy at the FDA. Both picks, who were expected to be nominated, are physicians and are well-regarded by food safety and nutrition groups.
Obama said he would also take steps to prevent diseased or "downer" cows from being slaughtered and entering the food supply.
"Food safety is something I take seriously, not just as your president, but as a parent," he said. "No parent should have to worry that their child is going to get sick from their lunch."
Image of Margaret Hamburg/National Library of Medicine
Tags:
hamburg,
sharfstein,
food safety,
salmonella,
fda
More News Blog:
Next: Space shuttle Discovery reaches orbit successfully
Previous: Barack and Ban sing kumbaya on thwarting runaway climate change
See what we're tweeting about
PsiWavefunction Man, America really has a tornado problem... http://t.co/gPx1D4WYwA
sciam Without Glia, the Brain Would Starve http://t.co/XU2fWlU5IP sciam You Are Less Beautiful Than You Think http://t.co/Bi24qfexel
Deadline: Jul 15 2013
Reward: $5,000 USD
SciBX: Science-Business eXchange, a joint publication from the makers
Deadline: Jul 25 2013
Reward: Varies
This challenge provides an opportunity for Solvers to build a web-based or mobile “app” to explore data relationships in scholarly conte
Powered By: 
YES! Send me a free issue of Scientific American with no obligation to continue the subscription. If I like it, I will be billed for the one-year subscription.
Comments
Add Comment