ANIMALS ON DRUGS - Foodopoly: The Battle Over the Future of Food and Farming in America - page 82

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ANIMALS ON DRUGS
Corruption is like a ball of snow, once it's set a rolling it must increase .
—Charles Caleb Colton (1780-1832), British writer
It was déjà vu. Michael Taylor, the ever-ready maestro of the revolving door, was back at the FDA—this
time appointed by President Barack Obama to be deputy commissioner of foods. The New York Times po-
litely observed that Taylor “migrated among government, industry and academia.” A former strategist for
Monsanto, Taylor started in July 2009 as a senior adviser to Obama's new FDA commissioner, Margaret
Hamburg, and in January 2010 he was appointed deputy commissioner of food. 1 This newly created position
gave Taylor authority over all food-related work at the FDA, including oversight of the Center for Food
Safety and Applied Nutrition. The FDA had faced one food scandal after another—massive recalls had be-
come the new normal.
The FDA was established with the passage of the 1906 Pure Food and Drugs Act, a mandate that has
grown exponentially as the food system has become more consolidated and globalized. The advent of pro-
cessed food, produced in huge volumes, and the abundance of produce sourced from just a few locations
have made food safety a whole new ball game. The FDA has come to regulate all foods except meat, poultry,
and processed eggs.
In 1906, the Pure Food and Drugs Act was focused on preventing unscrupulous companies from selling
mislabeled products—for instance, maple syrup that was 90 percent glucose with a coal tar-based maple
flavoring or jelly advertised as quince made mostly of glucose and coal tar essence of quince. Like today,
these were contentious issues, but unlike now, most food in the early twentieth century was prepared “from
scratch” at home, and produce during most of the year came from local or regional sources.
The FDA today is understaffed and underresourced in today's globalized world, where most food is pro-
cessed. Most food-processing facilities are not inspected, and the FDA has relied on issuing guidances to the
food industry, which are not backed up with enforcement. More often than not, the FDA reacts to problems
instead of trying to prevent them. Hundreds of recalls have taken place over the past decade, but some are
particularly memorable in their scope.
• On September 14, 2006, the FDA told Americans to stop eating bagged spinach because of contamination
by a virulent strain of E. coli that killed at least five people after a painful, bloody illness sickened more
than 205 people in twenty-six states, leaving them vulnerable to future health problems. 2
• In March 2007, due to adulterated pet food, thousands of pets died from kidney failure. More than 5,300
brands of pet food had been contaminated with Chinese-produced wheat gluten that had been tainted with
melamine to give the false appearance of a higher level of protein.