Dive Summary:

• The U.S. government is bracing itself for automatic and sweeping budget cuts, known as the sequester, to take effect Friday, effectively cutting all federal budgets by 9%.
• Exact details aren't yet known, making many in the food industry weary as the FDA and USDA will certainly loose much of their inspection and preventative capacity.
• The FDA said it could cut 2,100 facility inspections to meet the budgetary goals, while the USDA said it would have to furlough all of its employees for 15 days to cut costs, and though these are just examples floating around, the actual effects would be similarly drastic.

From the article:

"... Vilsack has repeatedly said that USDA would have no choice but to furlough inspectors under sequestration. This week, he told Reuters TV that while USDA would try to stagger the furloughs to minimize the impact to the industry, the move was unavoidable and would eventually directly impact the meat supply.

'At some point, you’re going to have shortages,” said Vilsack, according to Reuters. “The reality is there are going to be disruptions.' ..."