GAO faults administration on food safety

WASHINGTON, June 12 (UPI) -- A congressional report, coming amid a new contaminated food scare, faults the Bush administration for an alleged lack of food safeguards.

The Government Accountability Office, Congress's investigative arm, accused the administration of failing to identify the procedure needed to protect the U.S. food supply.

The report comes as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is taking heat for the latest outbreak, involving a rare, virulent strain of salmonella linked to fresh tomatoes.

Federal officials said Wednesday that 167 people in 17 states have become ill after eating fresh tomatoes. Authorities are investigating whether a death in Texas is related to the outbreak, The Wall Street Journal said.

The salmonella outbreak follows a rash of food recalls in recent years, from peanut butter to pet food.

The FDA has not said how or when it will put into practice a food-safety plan it first laid out in November, or how much it will cost, the GAO said.

The GAO report said the FDA had promised a progress report by April but now says its parent, the Department of Health and Human Services, hasn't approved it yet.