With thousands of Americans falling ill and public confidence
shaken after a series of high-profile foodborne outbreaks
several years ago involving consumer staples such as lettuce,
peppers, peanuts and eggs, Congress and the White House moved
aggressively to bring food safety into the 21st century. But two
years after President Obama signed a sweeping food safety bill
into law, the rules at the heart of the largest food safety
overhaul in more than 70 years have yet to be put in place,
blocked by their sheer length, growing complexity and a White
House that critics contend has delayed their implementation for
political gain. At the same time, the Food and Drug
Administration, charged with implementing the new law, has been
the victim of a push in Washington to rein in spending and some
Republicans in Congress who have questioned the necessity and
cost of the regulations. FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said
in October that unless the agency’s food safety budget is
increased by millions of dollars from its