U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Friday the resignation of Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. Elisabeth Hagen, effective in mid-December.
According to the announcement, Dr. Hagen will pursue an opportunity in the private sector, where she served prior to her appointment at USDA. She has led USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service since August 2010.
"It has been an ambitious three years," she said in a statement. "USDA and FSIS have successfully made preventing foodborne illness a real priority. The steps we have taken, from modernizing the agency, strengthening oversight of industry and increasing outreach to consumers has led to safer food and fewer foodborne illnesses."
Tom Vilsack, agricultural secretary, responded with a statement of his own: "Thanks to Elisabeth Hagen's hard work and sound leadership of the thousands of employees at the Food Safety and Inspection Service, America's food supply is safer today than ever before."
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