date:Aug 11, 2012
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The Microbiological Data Program, a small program housed in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service, was originally started in 2001 as a way to keep tabs on contamination rates of fresh produce, but has expanded its role to include recall tip-offs.
The small program - which costs USDA $4.5 million a year - was scheduled to be shut down in July after being excluded from this year's budget plan, but was put on life support after its impending shutdown was widely