Govt. to assess food chain security in 50 states

By Randy Fabi

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Bush administration will send
public health and homeland security experts to each state
within the next year to identify where the U.S. food chain is
vulnerable to an attack, the Agriculture Department said on
Tuesday.

Experts have repeatedly warned the government that an
attack on the nation’s food supply using biological agents or
disease would be relatively easy to unleash and could have a
devastating economic impact.

The USDA, Homeland Security Department, Food and Drug
Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation agreed
to help states and industry pinpoint vulnerabilities in the
agriculture and food sectors.

Under the new partnership, teams representing the four
federal entities will travel to all 50 states to review food
security issues from farm-to-table.

“Ensuring the safety of our nation’s food supply is a top
priority for President Bush and USDA,” Agriculture Secretary
Mike Johanns said in a statement.

Last month, a National Academy of Sciences report described
how a small amount of botulinum toxin could poison the U.S.
milk supply and sicken up to 500,000 people. The independent
science panel also said fruit and vegetable juices, canned
foods and some grains could easily be contaminated.

Before resigning as Health and Human Services Secretary,
Tommy Thompson said he was surprised that the U.S. food supply
had not yet been attacked because of the many holes in the
system. For example, although American consumers are demanding
imports of more ethnic and exotic foods, the FDA has not been
able to increase its ranks of 1,500 inspectors to check
shipments.