Texas Professor to Head U.S. Food Inspection Agency

H. Russell Cross, an animal sciences professor at Texas A&M; University, was appointed Monday as administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, the agency responsible for the safety of the nation’s meat and poultry supply.

The appointment by Secretary of Agriculture Edward R. Madigan was cheered by industry groups and harshly criticized by a coalition of Washington-based consumer groups.

The inspection service, with a work force of about 9,000 inspectors and support personnel, has been under fire for failing to stem rising contamination rates in meat, particularly the presence of salmonella in chicken.

The potentially harmful bacteria is present in anywhere between 37% and 66% of all the chicken carcasses being processed in this country, according to recent estimates.

The inspection service, along with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, operates the bulk of the nation’s food safety programs. Cross, who has been instrumental in research and promotional efforts to reduce the fat content in beef, promised to make changes in the agency.

The selection of Cross, after a six-month search to fill the vacated position, was immediately criticized by the Safe Food Coalition, which includes such consumer groups as the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Public Citizen’s Congress Watch and the Consumer Federation of America.

Carol Tucker Foreman, a former top-ranking Agriculture Department official in the Jimmy Carter Administration and a coalition member, said that Cross’ credentials are not well-suited to head the agency.

“He has no experience in public health issues like microbial and chemical contamination of meat and poultry,” Foreman said.

She added that the appointment does nothing to change the perception that the Agriculture Department is too close to the industry it regulates.

“Many of the problems . . . arise from the fact that people running it are more concerned about four-legged critters than about two-legged humans,” she said.