Blame my odd sense of humor. When I see the words “human foods,” I think of the product that is dispensed daily to the bowl of our family’s 120-pound pit bull mix.
In an August 24 email to me, food safety litigator Bill Marler wrote, “I met Mr. Jones when I testified before the Reagan-Udall Foundation when it was tasked by the Commissioner to review the FDA Human Foods Program. Mr. Jones was engaged and asked good questions. I am hopeful that the new proposed structure of the FDA allows for the transparency and accountability needed to make him successful.”
About Jones’ appointment, Natalie Dyenson, chief food safety and regulatory officer for the International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA)BB #:378962, commented, “We have long advocated for the importance of having a unified Human Foods Program with a single point of accountability for food safety and program leader who can and will elevate the importance of foods within FDA.”
The Reagan-Udall Foundation recommended the consolidation of the functions of several FDA agencies that monitored food health and safety. Responding to the recommendation, the FDA announced such a consolidation earlier this year in the Human Foods Program. (See here for a capsule summary of the reorganization)
Jones, who was one of the authors of the Reagan-Udall report, will report directly to FDA commissioner Robert Califf.
In a June 28 video discussing the reorganization, Califf put the situation in perspective by noting, “We’re tied with Denmark and Canada for the safest food in the world.”
Califf went on to add that agency reorganization in itself cannot address the entirety of the food safety issue: “We can’t fix it by rearranging the deck chairs here.”
Better funding is needed: “We’re trying to prompt Congress to do a bit more in this area,” said Califf.
Blame my odd sense of humor. When I see the words “human foods,” I think of the product that is dispensed daily to the bowl of our family’s 120-pound pit bull mix.
In an August 24 email to me, food safety litigator Bill Marler wrote, “I met Mr. Jones when I testified before the Reagan-Udall Foundation when it was tasked by the Commissioner to review the FDA Human Foods Program. Mr. Jones was engaged and asked good questions. I am hopeful that the new proposed structure of the FDA allows for the transparency and accountability needed to make him successful.”
About Jones’ appointment, Natalie Dyenson, chief food safety and regulatory officer for the International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA)BB #:378962, commented, “We have long advocated for the importance of having a unified Human Foods Program with a single point of accountability for food safety and program leader who can and will elevate the importance of foods within FDA.”
The Reagan-Udall Foundation recommended the consolidation of the functions of several FDA agencies that monitored food health and safety. Responding to the recommendation, the FDA announced such a consolidation earlier this year in the Human Foods Program. (See here for a capsule summary of the reorganization)
Jones, who was one of the authors of the Reagan-Udall report, will report directly to FDA commissioner Robert Califf.
In a June 28 video discussing the reorganization, Califf put the situation in perspective by noting, “We’re tied with Denmark and Canada for the safest food in the world.”
Califf went on to add that agency reorganization in itself cannot address the entirety of the food safety issue: “We can’t fix it by rearranging the deck chairs here.”
Better funding is needed: “We’re trying to prompt Congress to do a bit more in this area,” said Califf.
Richard Smoley, contributing editor for Blue Book Services, Inc., has more than 40 years of experience in magazine writing and editing, and is the former managing editor of California Farmer magazine. A graduate of Harvard and Oxford universities, he has published 13 books.