Today, September 9, 2009, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack, along with U.S. Department for Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the launching of a new consumer food safety Web site which can be accessed by clicking here. Vilsack and Sebelius are the co-chairs of the Obama Administration’s Food Safety Working Group.
Food safety has been on the mind of many this summer as the House of Representatives passed legislation called the Food Safety Enhancement Act, the administration created the working group, there have been numerous product recalls, the Food and Drug Administration just implemented new reporting requirements for when a company is aware of a potential threat to human health from one of their food products. If health care and climate change legislation weren’t dominating the news cycles this might even be known as the summer of food safety.
Regardless, the site has been launched and, according to the USDA news release, the website will provide consumers with “information from all the agencies across the federal government that deal with critical food and food safety information, including preventative tips . . . food recalls, and the latest news from the key agencies.” Consumers can even sign up to receive email alerts from the website.
Agriculture Secretary Vilsack made the following statement in the news release: "Protecting the health and well-being of the American people is a fundamental responsibility of the federal government. Our new and innovative approach to connecting consumers to food safety information in an easy and timely manner is a critical improvement in this effort [.]"
To read the USDA news release click here.
Posted: 09/09/09
