“I am nothing short of outraged at the increasing number of outbreaks of food-borne illness in this country,” Harkin said. “Everything from spinach and lettuce to beef products and, now, peanut products has been implicated. Within the last year, we had the biggest recall ever under USDA jurisdiction. And just in the last month, with the recall of peanut products from the Peanut Corporation of America, we had one of the largest recalls ever under FDA jurisdiction.”
The pressure on FDA over the tainted peanut butter extends to the White House as well. In a nationally broadcast interview earlier this month, President Obama criticized the agency for not reacting quickly enough to the outbreak.