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A new report Keeping America's Food Safe: A Blueprint for Fixing the Food Safety System was released by Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) which said immediate consolidation of food safety leadership within the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was needed. The report released at the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services examines problems with the current system and proposes ways to improve the food safety functions to better protect the nation's food supply. Currently the responsibility is divided among federal agencies which include the FDA and U. S. Department of Agriculture, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention monitoring disease outbreaks. The FDA regulates 80% of the food supply including millions of food producers, processors, transporters, storage facilities, grocery stores, and restaurants. TFAH and RWJF in their report have said as a first step toward safeguarding the U. S. food supply the Obama administration should appoint a senior food safety official within the Food and Drug Administration. "Our food safety system is plagued with problems, and it's leading to millions of Americans becoming needlessly sick each year," said Jeff Levi, PhD, Executive Director of TFAH. "The system is outdated and unable to effectively deal with today's threats. Its current structure actually prevents the kind of coordinated, focused effort that Americans need more than ever and have a right to expect." In the long run, the groups said the government needs a new agency within the Department of Health and Human Services whose only task is regulating the food supply. As of now no FDA official whose job is food safety has line authority over all food safety aspects. On March 14 President Barack Obama chose Dr. Margaret Hamburg to run the FDA and called for restructuring and improving the U. S. food safety system. He announced a Cabinet-level group that will provide advice on how to improve food safety. In the report consolidating leadership within the FDA, and Congressional action to create a separate Food Safety Administration were highlighted as being immediate actions that were needed to reduce food related illness. The current Salmonella crisis relating to peanut products is still fresh in everyone's mind, preceded by Salmonella outbreak in peppers and imported cantaloupes. There was also a near miss with the potential imports from China of the melamine-contaminated infant formula and related diary products. "Food safety needs to be a priority on the prevention menu," said Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. "We shouldn't have to worry about our children getting sick from their school lunch or from a family meal at a restaurant. And we shouldn't have to wait until people become sick to learn about food safety problems. We need modern, comprehensive ways of preventing and detecting problems before food gets to the table." Michael Taylor of George Washington University, who has worked in food safety posts at both the FDA and the U. S. Department of Agriculture, told reporters, "I believe the first priority should be to repair what is wrong at FDA." Taylor, who provided advice for the report added, "The FDA has jurisdiction over 80 percent of the food supply, including virtually all imports. Recent nationwide outbreaks involving salmonella-tainted produce and peanuts expose really critical shortcomings at FDA and CDC with respect to both prevention and response to foodborne outbreaks." Highlighting the three critical weaknesses of the FDA Taylor said the FDA has obsolete statutes that focus on reacting to problems instead of preventing them; inadequate resources that have resulted in "serious gaps in standard-setting and a weak enforcement program"; and a fragmented structure that impedes management.