At long last, after seven frustrating and sometimes deadly decades of inaction, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has the power it needs to recall tainted foods and require common-sense safety measures for farmers and food manufacturers. But the new food safety rules announced last week won't do much good if there's no money to enforce them, and therein lies the rub.

The FDA took two years to come up with the rules for implementing Congress' landmark legislation. The delay was in part because the FDA knows Congress has always shortchanged it on food safety, even though more than 3,000 Americans die every year and more than 300,000 are hospitalized from eating contaminated food. For example, lawmakers have failed to appropriate the $600 million the FDA needs to implement its new food safety center, even though it's hard to imagine a service of greater value to consumers.

California has a huge stake in Americans' confidence in their food supply because it grows nearly half of the fruits, nuts and vegetables they eat. Its congressional delegation should lead the charge to include the FDA funding.

Fortunately, California growers are ahead of the curve. The state's farm industry in 2006 voluntarily adopted a set of practices that largely mirror the new tracking procedures and safety steps the FDA is calling for. This was prompted by the 2006 E. coli outbreak tracked to contaminated spinach grown at a San Benito County farm. Three people died, nearly 200 were infected and the industry lost an estimated $75 million.


The FDA's new goal is to aggressively try to prevent contamination. Food manufacturers will be required by 2015 to submit plans to monitor and minimize food packaging hazards. Farmers will have to monitor water safety, develop soil safety controls and guarantee proper sanitation by workers.

The vast majority of growers and processors go out of their way to keep their products safe. The new rules are needed to deal with those who cut corners, whether to save money or simply out of carelessness. For them, publishing rules isn't enough. The FDA will need to monitor compliance. And that takes money.