Panel calls for stronger leadership of FDA food programs

A panel on Tuesday called for changes at the federal agency that oversees most of the nation's food supply, saying revamped leadership, a clear mission and more urgency are needed to prevent illness outbreaks and to promote good health.

But the report stopped short of recommending specific steps to take, instead offering several scenarios such as creating a separate food agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; putting the Food and Drug Administration commissioner directly in charge of the foods program; or creating a deputy commissioner for foods.

Leadership and culture must also be restructured to better respond to food safety crises and chronic public health problems, according to the 51-page report by the Reagan-Udall Foundation, a group separate from but closely tied to the FDA.

The “lack of a single, clearly identified person” to lead the foods program has led to a culture of “constant turmoil” at the agency, the report found.