990720 Single U.S. Food Safety Agency “Disruptive”

Washington - The Clinton administration criticized a Democratic proposal to create a single food safety agency, saying it would play havoc with ongoing efforts to protect consumers from foodborne bugs.

More than two dozen House and Senate Democrats last month introduced a bill to combine food inspectors, regulators and scientists from a dozen existing federal offices into a new agency devoted to safeguarding food.

The bill, which was sponsored by Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, is popular among consumer groups who have long criticized the confusing maze of U.S. agencies with overlapping authority for safe food.

But a single food safety agency would create more problems than it would solve, two Clinton cabinet members said.

“I happen to believe that it would be very disruptive,” Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman told reporters after addressing a meeting of the President's Council on Food Safety.

An attempt to combine hundreds of regulators from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control, the Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies would take years to complete, he said.

Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala said better coordination among existing agencies would be more effective in the long run.

“Neatness does not produce the kinds of outcomes the American people want,” Shalala said, referring to the concept of a single food agency.

About one-fourth of all Americans -- the elderly, the very young, those with serious diseases and others with weak immune systems -- are considered “at risk” for foodborne disease, she said.

Shalala and Glickman announced they would launch a food safety research organization to make sure federal money is spent on the most promising projects to protect consumers from food poisoning.

The Joint Institute for Food Safety Research is the latest in a series of administration efforts to step up the sharing of information among various federal agencies with a hand in food regulation.

“Some of the strains of foodborne pathogens are growing more virulent all the time,” Glickman said. “This institute will help ensure that our research remains well coordinated, prioritized, and carefully planned to help reduce foodborne illness for American families.”

The institute will coordinate research by the USDA, FDA, CDC, EPA and other agencies. A director and staff will be hired later this year, Glickman said.

The Clinton administration sought an extra $72 million for food safety research and inspections in its fiscal 2000 budget, which has yet to be finalized by Congress. The U.S. government already spends more than $1 billion annually on a variety of food safety programs, mostly for USDA meat and poultry inspections.

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