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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009
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FDA Names Food Safety Czar After Chicken Scare

Democrats seek other roads to effective FDA

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(Newser) – The FDA appointed a food safety czar yesterday, as the news that 3 million chickens had been fed melamine-tainted feed exacerbated growing public anxiety about food safety. The FDA said the chickens weren't recalled because most of them would have been sold by now, and the melamine was too diluted to be a health hazard for humans.

Melamine is the chemical—added to pet food ingredients produced in China—thought to be responsible for the deaths and illness of thousands of cats and dogs earlier this year. Czar David Acheson’s official duty is to create “a visionary strategy for food safety and defense.”  Democrats were skeptical, favoring legislation to strengthen the FDA.

Hundreds of chickens for sale are placed together in a chicken...
Hundreds of chickens for sale are placed together in a chicken...   (Getty Images)
A man feeds his dogs outside a housing compound in Beijing Friday April 6, 2007. China has denied responsibility for a slew of pet deaths in the United States that U.S. authorities blame on a batch of chemically contaminated wheat gluten from China, state media reported. (AP Photo/Greg Baker)
A man feeds his dogs outside a housing compound in Beijing Friday April 6, 2007. China has denied responsibility for a slew of pet deaths in the United States that U.S. authorities blame on a batch of...   (Associated Press)
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