Summary: common themes by both Michael Taylor and Lester Crawford

• prevention of chronic illness and long-term public health concerns are different from food safety concerns;
• inspection and regulation should not be separated;
• resistance to change within FDA and USDA comes from both internal and external sources;
• any changes should be premised not on reducing staff and saving money but on re-deploying, modernizing and upgrading;
• problems with food safety research: not enough money, spread out from points of control and regulation, not a high priority in US research establishment, externally driven or investigator driven rather than a tool for achieving the food safety initiative;
• CDC should be a generator of fundamental knowledge; and
• need to address communication barriers among CDC, FDA, and FSIS.

• Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT, Richard Wood)

• need a single food safety agency that has a single mission focusing on food safety, has clear roles and responsibilities, has regulatory authority joined with enforcement powers, and has farm-to-table regulatory responsibilities.