Editorial Says FDA Needs "White House Rebuke"

A St. Petersburg Times editorial argues that the FDA deserves a "White House rebuke" for its failures in the salmonella outbreak. The agency "responsible for protecting the nation's food supply looks as if it learned nothing from grappling with similar outbreaks of tainted spinach and peppers." Currently, the agency "plays a mop-up role, not a policing one" and has failed "to incorporate recommendations on how to maximize its efforts. As of last May, the FDA "has implemented only seven of the 34 recommendations the GAO had made for improving food safety." Meanwhile, "the number of domestic firms regulated by the FDA increased from about 51,000 in 2001 to more than 65,500 in 2007." The agency "needs a shot in the arm (and one across the bow) from the White House," the paper concludes.