Apr 22, 2013
Food industry opposes FDA plan to boost food safety budget with fees
Much of the food industry opposes paying fees that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is proposing to pay for an increase in its food safety budget in fiscal year 2014, Food Safety News (FSN) reported today. Earlier this month the FDA announced that it was seeking a $295.8 million increase in its food safety budget for next year, with $252.4 million of that coming from a food facility registration and inspection fee and a food importer fee. In connection with a hearing late last week, a coalition of industry groups sent a letter to leaders of the Senate appropriations subcommittee that oversees the FDA, urging them not to impose any "new food regulatory taxes on industry and consumers," FSN reported. The letter, signed by more than 50 groups, but not by the Grocery Manufacturers Association, said new fees on food facilities would amount to "a food safety tax on consumers." At the hearing, FDA Commissioner
Margaret Hamburg said the FDA has begun discussing the issue with the food industry, FSN reported. "There will need to be, of course, a legislative pathway going forward," she said.
Apr 22 FSN story
Apr 10 FDA press release about its proposed 2014 budget
Small South Dakota Salmonella outbreak linked to chicks
A four-case salmonellosis outbreak in South Dakota linked to live chicks may be part of a multistate outbreak, FSN reported today. Three of the cases are in southeastern South Dakota, and the fourth is in the southwestern part of the state, according to an Apr 19 press release from the South Dakota Department of Health (SDDH). The outbreak may be under investigation in several states, an SDDH spokesman told FSN. All four cases share the same Salmonella genetic fingerprint, FSN said, but it is not yet clear if they involved chicks from the same hatchery. Last year the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported three separate multistate outbreaks linked to live chicks that totaled 334 cases. One involving Salmonella Infantis, Newport, and Lille strains accounted for 195 cases, one caused by Salmonella Montevideo involved 93 cases, and one involving the Hadar strain sickened 46
people.
Apr 22 FSN story
Apr 19 SDDH news release
2012 CDC Salmonella outbreak updates: (1) multi-strain, (2) Montevideo, (3) Hadar
