Dive Summary:

• In a memo released on Friday, the White House has expressed grave concerns for food inspection and safety if the automatic budget cuts were to go into effect.
• The cuts, which were postponed from the fated 'fiscal cliff' late last year, would severely inhibit the governments response and prevention networks according to analysis conducted by the FDA.
• The agency would be able to conduct 2,100 fewer inspections if the cuts were instated, both domestically and the increasingly important international inspections the agency performs.

From the article:

According to the Hagstom Report (subscription only), last week Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack called the sequester “horrible policy” and cited the impact to food safety as one example.

“As soon as you take an inspector off the floor, that plant shuts down,” said Vilsack. According to the report, Vilsack added that removing inspectors even for a short period of time could impact several thousand workers and would severely impact meat prices and supply.