President Obama has said in a televised interview that his administration will conduct a complete review of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Former Senator Tom Daschle on Tuesday withdrew as the nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services, which oversees the FDA along with other agencies such as U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), as controversy swelled over his failure to pay more than $100,000 in taxes.

Obama’s assurance that the FDA will be put under the microscope will be seen as a positive step by many organizations representing food manufacturers, as well as consumer groups and the Government Accountability Office, which have all been calling for an overhaul of the FDA.

A group of ten major food industry organizations, including the Grocery Manufacturers Association among others, recently wrote letters to Congress which said: “We urge Congress to quickly enact food safety reforms that will give FDA new powers to reduce the risk of food-borne illness.”

Many are eager for new leadership at the FDA, which regulates products that make up roughly a quarter of the nation's economy and has been hammered by a string of safety issues, from the withdrawal of Merck & Co Inc's Vioxx painkiller to the current salmonella outbreak from tainted peanuts.

FDA has jurisdiction over produce and processed food while the Agriculture Department is in charge of meat and eggs. Also, you can get alerts from the United States department of Agriculture. The USDA handles meat, poultry products and eggs. A quick check of the USDA site shows frozen chicken, bacon bits and burrito product recalls in the last two months, while the FDA site shows all of the peanut butter products you shouldn't eat.