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Welcome to Andy’s Take. I am John Dyer, FDA’s Deputy Commissioner for Operations and Chief Operating Officer, and I am pleased to bring you this week’s Andy’s Take.
As you and your family celebrated Thanksgiving this week, The FDA played a role in that event. The ingredients that went into your holiday meal may have come from your local farmers' market, may have been grown or produced domestically but travelled across the country, or they may have been grown or produced on the other side of the globe – and landed on your table.
My Take is that FDA has worked hard to ensure the safety of your food this Thanksgiving. During the past year the FDA, following our Food Protection Plan, has taken new steps that provide you and your family with still greater protections by building even more safety into the U.S. and global food systems. Implementing the FDA Food Protection Plan enhances protections for both domestic and imported food from accidental and intentional contamination. Our agency focuses on the safety of food at every point of the food chain from the farm to your fork. Under the Food Protection Plan, we are working with foreign countries, state and local governments as well as industry and consumer groups to ensure that your food is safe. We also continue to work with members of Congress to change laws to help FDA better protect the food supply
I hope that you will visit our website for updates on our Food Protection Plan efforts. An outstanding example of our accomplishments so far is our preparations to establish FDA offices in five regions that export food and other FDA-related products to the U.S.: China, where the FDA has established offices earlier this month, India, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. In addition, the FDA has developed a test to rapidly detect E. coli and Salmonella in food; and hired experts to strengthen our response to emergencies that involve animal feed, including pet food.
Happy Thanksgiving, and please stop back here next week for Andy’s Take.
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