FDA Is Expected to Seek More Food-Safety Powers

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration, following a series of recent food scares, for the first time in years will likely seek additional powers to police food safety.

Assistant FDA Commissioner David Acheson told a House subcommittee that his agency lacks the needed authority now and may request such power in a new food-safety proposal. An FDA spokesman declined to elaborate what the new authorities will be, but says the plan will be announced in four to six weeks.

In his testimony, Dr. Acheson, the FDA's point man to draft the plan, said it will include three pieces: a proactive approach to prevent contamination, a risk-based inspection system to focus on troublesome products and a faster response system to contamination. The plan, if enacted, would reflect a strategic shift inside the agency away from the FDA's traditional method of reacting to crises.

The announcement came as Democrats on Capitol Hill are becoming increasingly impatient for what they perceive to be the Bush administration's lack of action to overhaul the nation's food-safety system. Already, the agency has been struggling to deal with a slew of food scares in the past year, involving products ranging from bagged spinach and peanut butter to contaminated wheat flour from China.

"Food safety at FDA is a stepchild," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the Connecticut Democrat who is chairwoman of the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee. While FDA officials said they are limited by the resources they have, Ms. DeLauro said the FDA hasn't made good use of the money in the past and she isn't willing to "appropriate further money into a black hole."

Read the full Wall Street Journal story here.