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"Given the lack of effective control that has historically prevailed,

Aug. 20, 2018 by Kenneth Newton

"Given the lack of effective control that has historically prevailed, we are doing a lot of work to prevent this from happening again," Gottlieb said in an interview Wednesday. He said the program will begin on July 1.

Gottlieb noted that the FDA now has to issue orders for foreign food to be inspected, and it's not clear whether this could happen before then.

"We continue to have these meetings to try to work out whether this is a real food safety issue," Gottlieb said. "I'm disappointed that the FDA and the Department of Agriculture aren't taking this seriously, but as I said earlier, our work is ongoing."

The agency's decision comes with the Department of Justice releasing new details about how it will review and prosecute the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's order to ban imports of romaine lettuce from over 90 countries.

Gottlieb announced the move after the Food and Drug Administration informed Congress earlier this week that the FDA had suspended the importation of romaine lettuce, a nutrient-rich component that has been used in cooking recipes for decades, while the agency has been reviewing safety testing of domestic food.

The FDA has also issued new guidance to help prevent the spread of a deadly E. coli outbreak in the U.S. of the bacterium Escherichia coli, which has been linked to a foodborne illness in children.