Goodbye Bob

You might have seen the news release from the Grocery Manufacturers Association announcing the hiring of Bob Brackett as senior vice president and chief science and regulatory officer.

Here is an additional statement from the FDA:

Dr. Andrew C. von Eschenbach, Commissioner of Food and Drugs on Dr. Robert Brackett's new position with the Grocery Manufacturers/Food Products Association
Background: Robert Brackett, Ph.D., Director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, has accepted a position with the Grocery Manufacturers/Food Products Association (GMA/FPA) as Senior Vice President and Chief Science and Regulatory Officer. He will begin his new position at the end of November. The FDA will begin a broad search for a successor.
Bob Brackett has served the American people with distinction and excellence during his career with the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. He has provided exceptional leadership over critical food safety, food defense and nutrition issues during an ever-increasing globalization of the food supply. I am especially appreciative of Bob's management during recent significant food safety issues, including last year's E.coli outbreak linked to fresh spinach. His demonstrated skills have truly set the gold standard. While Bob will be sorely missed here at the FDA, we wish him the very best.

As director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Brackett's name shows up in The Packer library 48 times over the past few years.

Larry Waterfield wrote the first, an article about Brackett's appointment in June 2001:

FDA names scientist food safety director
Pulled from the agency's own ranks, Robert Brackett will oversee a department with increased funding.
By Larry Waterfield, Washington, D.C., Editor
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Food and Drug Administration has appointed the new director of food safety at the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.
In this position, Robert Brackett will oversee all aspects of food safety across the range of the FDA's food safety programs.
"Brackett possesses a high level of expertise in microbiological research, and his experience provides a firm basis for overseeing and strengthening our food safety program," said Bernard Schwetz, principal deputy commissioner of the FDA.
Brackett, a former food scientist at the University of Georgia, has been serving as senior microbiologist in the FDA's Office of Plant and Dairy Foods and Beverages, where he managed food safety issues. He focused on produce and egg safety.
The new food safety director will oversee programs that have grown by millions of dollars in additional funding in the past three years in the wake of the President's Food Safety Initiative and concerns over new microbes and increased illness traced to fruits and vegetables. The FDA is responsible for the safety of domestic and imported fruits and vegetables.
Brackett will report directly to Joseph Levitt, director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.
"This appointment underscores my commitment to a strong, science-based food safety program," Levitt said.


In December 2005, Brackett got after the produce industry for their lack of decisiveness in dealing with food safety. From December 2005:

"Consumers don't care what the cause is, they just don't want any contaminated product. Our job is to encourage the industry to take care of the problem," he said.
Part of that encouragement was a Nov. 4 letter from Brackett specifically addressed to the U.S. lettuce industry and also published on the FDA's Web site.
In the letter, Brackett said the FDA is aware of 18 outbreaks of foodborne illness since 1995 caused by E. coli O157:H7 for which fresh or fresh-cut lettuce was implicated.
Brackett's letter urged timely development of commodity-specific food safety guidance for lettuce and industry commitment to research and communication.
That letter paid immediate dividends in the form of a Dec. 13 meeting in Salinas with lettuce industry leaders and trade association executives about the development of a commodity-specific guidance document.

TK: We don't know who the successor to Brackett will be, but it is hard to imagine a replacement who will bring the level of expertise, clarity and commitment that he provided. I hope it is not a bad sign he is leaving at the outset of the ambitious food safety plans the FDA just laid out.