FDA’s Food Program Needs Strong Leader, Outside Review Finds (1)

The US Food and Drug Administration needs a stronger leader in its foods program to head off turmoil and interdepartmental conflicts that inhibit the agency’s ability to protect consumers, according to an outside review.

A stronger chief would be able to iron out conflicts between units like the agency’s food safety and food policy divisions that cover similar issues, and allow faster and more effective decision-making, according to the review requested by FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, while addressing public perceptions of the Human Foods Program as “sluggish and non-responsive to public health concerns.”

The agency’s food division has been ...