Regulatory Food Science professionals should read the opinion piece published in this week’s issue of Nature by Harvard University Government Professor Daniel Carpenter. Science professionals have been deeply dismayed by the recent overruling of FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on a scientific committee decision which 70-years of precedent firmly establishes as a matter of agency sole discretion. 

The Carpenter article summarizes and analyzes many of the issues that concern Regulatory Science professionals with respect to the independence of FDA and its role in the regulatory approach to emerging issues such as nanotechnology.

We are unable to post the article, of course, due to copyright restrictions. However, since most of our readers have subscription access to Nature, we provide the citation below.

Carpenter, D., Strengthen and Stabilize the FDA, Nature, vol. 485, p. 169, 10 May 2012