Dive Brief:
- As part of President Barack Obama's new budget, he is looking to combine all food agencies, currently spread out among multiple departments, into one central regulatory body.
- The new agency would be housed under the Department for Health and Human Services, as food safety and foodborne illnesses are public health concerns.
- The new agency would work with state and local health departments, once a task for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dive Insight:
This proposal mirrors a similar bill brought to Congress last week, the Safe Food Act of 2015, which also called for a single food safety regulatory agency, the Food Safety Administration. These food safety shakeups come at a time when the USDA is drawing criticism for some of its reportedly failed attempts and one senator is requesting more inspections and harsher punishments from the FDA.