FDA Announces Voluntary Food Standards, Looks to States

Article in the Wall Street Journal -- Strapped FDA Turns to States: Amid Food-Safety Scares, Agency Asks for Help With Inspections, by Jane Zhang.  Here's an excerpt:

For several months, amid food scares ranging from tainted pet food to canned chili with botulism, the Food and Drug Administration's cash-strapped food program has been struggling to demonstrate that it can police the nation's food supply. Now, it is taking steps to rely more heavily on the states for help.

Yesterday, the FDA announced new voluntary standards that it said would lead to uniform, high-quality state food-safety programs. Margaret Glavin, associate commissioner for regulatory affairs, called the shift a significant step toward "integrating our food-safety system."

The move amounted to an acknowledgment, increasingly discussed within the FDA in recent months, that federal and state officials need to combine forces to combat food-safety problems.

BGS