About 5 years ago, me and Chapman and Amy were at a FDA regional conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

There was an informal after hours session where a few of the Food and Drug Administration’s senior field people talked about some practical food safety: the first was about the aftereffects of Hurricane Katrina, the devastation, and the challenges of securing safe food and water; the second was about FDA’s role ensuring safe food for the U.S. President at home and abroad.

As the presidential inauguration continues today, Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D., Commissioner of FDA, writes that at the request of the U.S. Secret Service and D.C. Department of Health, we’ve assembled a team of 35 FDA staff from across the U.S. including 18 experts in retail foods and field inspection. Their mission? To work closely with the D.C. Department of Health, local county health departments in Maryland and Virginia, and the FDA Baltimore District Office to make sure that the food served at the inaugural ceremony and parade, balls and galas is safe to eat.

Our team of regional food experts will work with local health departments to protect food from contamination. We’ll review menus and observe food preparation, storage and service. We’ll train kitchen staff about risk factors, such as cleanliness, food temperatures and refrigeration. And information on food sources and supply chains at venues and vendors will be questioned so that if any foodborne illness is reported, we’ll have data to trace it back to the source.  

Data from the 2009 inauguration tells us that our inspections covered more than 100,000 meals. We expect similar coverage this time around.