FDA food safety officials want to increase the agency’s overseas inspection presence 20-fold, Congress Daily (subscription) reports today: “The Obama administration intends to increase the number of inspections of foreign food plants from 100 per year to 2,000 per year, a key FDA official said Wednesday.”

President Obama still has not nominated an undersecretary for food safety at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as Congress Daily reports today. Almost a year into his administration, the Food Safety Inspection Service – the federal agency in charge of making sure meat, poultry, and eggs are safe and labeled properly – is still without a leader.

In an omnibus appropriations bill quickly moving its way through Congress, the Consumer Product Safety Commission is set to receive a major funding increase for FY 2010 (which began Oct. 1). The bill sets the agency’s budget at $118 million, the highest level allowed under a separate bill that reauthorized the agency in 2008. CPSC’s FY 2009 budget was $105.4 million.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) missed a self-imposed deadline to make a determination about the safety of bisphenol-A (BPA), a chemical ingredient in hard plastics, food can liners, and other common products. Studies have linked BPA exposure to heart disease, developmental disorders, and other health problems.