By James Roza, CN????????????????? The latest word out of Washington predicts that President Obama selection for a new FDA Commissioner is imminent. There are apparently four potential candidates in the running: Joshua Sharfstein, head of Baltimore?s health department, Robert Califf, cardiologist at Duke University, Steve Nissen, a Cleveland clinic cardiologist, and Susan Wood, the former head of FDA?s Office on Women?s health. Whomever President Obama selects will have the unenviable task of dealing with a Department that for many Americans has not lived up to listed responsibilities. Issues ranging from melamine to lead and, most recently, salmonella have prompted many consumers to seriously question the safety of our food supply. How the new commissioner chooses to respond to these issues will undoubtedly impact the supplement industry, so we need to be prepared. The new Commissioner?s most likely response may come in the form of more government oversight and stricter standards rather than agency reforms. If this proves to be true, we will have made little progress in upgrading a system that is in dire need of an overhaul. Let?s hope that the new climate of change that the Obama administration has brought to Washington brings a new mindset to an agency that has long been beleaguered. An agency that favors a partnership with industry to find long term, practical solutions, rather than one that simply relies on heavy-handed intervention.

US News & World Report: Obama Calls for FDA Review
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