The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has once again announced that it is behind schedule in creating a registry for the reporting of food safety problems, according to Congress Daily (via nextgov.com).

In light of the recent salmonella outbreak traced back to peanuts, an outbreak which has sickened hundreds and killed at least nine, Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) wrote to the FDA inquiring about the delay. Congress Daily reports:

"American families have suffered the terrible health consequences of foodborne illness while FDA drags its feet on enforcing existing food safety laws," Enzi wrote. "Had the registry and reporting requirements been in effect, these recalls could have proceeded more rapidly and fewer Americans would have become sick from contaminated food." 

A central repository for reports of food safety problems would allow citizens, public officials, and food industry representatives to more quickly identify trends and potentially head off crises. Currently, “food companies and federal, state and local health officials report incidents to a fragmented system operated through district FDA offices.”

In a 2007 bill, Congress instructed FDA to create the registry by Sept. 2008. The agency now anticipates it will be up and running sometime this summer.