— OPINION — Democratic senators are expressing alarm about planned budget reallocations at the Food and Drug Administration that they fear will threaten the nation’s food safety system. In a letter to FDA Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods Jim Jones released Wednesday, Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal (Conn.
), Tina Smith (Minn.), Cory Booker (N.J.
) and Dick Durbin (Ill.) wrote that shifting funds away from the Office of Inspections and Investigation would slash resources available to state and local food safety programs that conduct the majority of facility inspections. (To sign up for a free subscription to Food Safety News, click here).