FDA nominee faces Senate questions on food safety

[May 07, 2009]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama's pick to oversee food and drug safety faces questions today about recent outbreaks of salmonella in food products.

Margaret Hamburg is scheduled to appear before a Senate committee considering her nomination to run the troubled Food and Drug Administration.

The agency has suffered a string of food safety failures -- including the massive salmonella outbreak in peanut products early this year, tomatoes and peppers in 2008 and spinach in 2006.

Hamburg is a doctor and bioterrorism expert who served as commissioner of health for New York City.

As an assistant health secretary under President Bill Clinton, Hamburg is credited with laying the groundwork for the government's bioterrorism and flu pandemic preparations.

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.