One month after he pledged a new emphasis on food safety, FDA commissioner Robert Califf said the agency has begun a national search for a powerful deputy commissioner for human foods, and it intends to finalize by the fall its proposed reorganization of offices under the “empowered” deputy secretary’s control. “I’m looking forward to starting the interview process and making a selection for this important position as soon as possible,” Califf said on Tuesday.
The new deputy commissioner would report directly to Califf and have authority over the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, the Office of Food Policy and Response and parts of the Office of Regulatory Affairs.
The FDA has jurisdiction over 78 percent of the U.S. food supply, including fruits, vegetables and most prepared foods. Yet its work on food and nutrition is often overshadowed by its role in overseeing drugs and medical devices. A panel of experts said late last year, “It is imperative that the Human Foods Program become more prominent.”
In a release, the FDA said it sought to finalize its reorganization plan by the fall. “This process includes the development of a reorganization package that contains the newly designed structure, an established budget, and a detailed mapping and crosswalk of staff from the current to new organization.” After a review by the FDA, the package would advance to Congress for a 30-day “notification” period in which lawmakers can raise issues for the FDA to consider. After that, the FDA would publish the package in the Federal Register and engage in negotiations, if needed, with employee unions about the package before it would take effect.
Califf did not go far enough in his reorganization by leaving out the food inspection, laboratory, compliance and import oversight work of the Office of Regulatory Affairs, said the consumer group Consumer Reports. It said FDA was clinging to “a fragmented organizational structure that has stood in the way of real progress on food safety.”