FDA Names Food Safety Czar After Chicken Scare

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. (More FDA stories.)