SourceWatch
"...In March 1994, Taylor was publicly exposed as a former lawyer for the Monsanto corporation for seven years..."
"...Taylor did not simply fill a vacant position at the agency", says Jeffrey M. Smith in his book Seeds of Deception, "In 1991 the FDA created a new position for him: Deputy Commissioner for Policy."
"...After his stint at the FDA Taylor went back to work as Monsanto's vice-president for public policy."

Michael Taylor Named Director of RFF’s Center for Risk Management RFF
"...Prior to coming to RFF, Taylor was Vice President for Public Policy at Monsanto and a partner in the Washington, D.C. law firm King & Spalding. In addition, he served as Administrator of the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service from 1994 to 1996, as FDA Deputy Commissioner for Policy from 1991 to 1994, and as Executive Assistant to the FDA Commissioner in 1980. He is an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center, and received his law degree from the University of Virginia."

Executive Summary, BOX ES-2. Changes in Federal Statutes that Would Foster and Enhance Science-based Strategies:
"Eliminate continuous inspection system for meat and poultry and replace with a science-based approach."

Michael Taylor, former Deputy Commissioner for Policy of the Food and Drug Administration and Acting Administrator of the Food Safety and Inspection Service at US Department of Agriculture:
* the current reactive-based system dates back to beginning of the century;
* shifting to science-based, preventive framework is the right track;
* for new system to be successful, need to deploy resources in a new way, and to develop preventive strategies on system-wide basis;
* current statutory and organization framework are obstacles to success due to fragmented nature of food safety research and misallocation of inspection resources;
* need to pursue organizational change due to a present lack of clearly defined responsibility and accountability; and need statutory reform.
Overlapping Responsibilities
"...One former official who served in both USDA and FDA said that the fragmentation and diversity of the agencies' authority undercuts the government's accountability for food safety, and he added:
'FDA has jurisdiction over plants producing cheese pizza, but rarely inspects such plants. USDA has jurisdiction over plants producing pepperoni pizza, and inspects such plants on a daily basis, after having already inspected both the animal from which the pepperoni was made and the processing of the meat into pepperoni.'"
( Michael R. Taylor, "Preparing America's Food Safety System for the Twenty-First Century - Who is Responsible for What When it Comes to Meeting the Food Safety Challenges of the Consumer-Driven Global Economy?" in Food and Drug Law Journal, vol. 52, n. 1, (Washington, D.C.:Food and Drug Law Institute, 1997) 13.)
The Fazio-Durbin Food Safety Administration Bill, 1997
"...In November 1997, Representative Vic Fazio and Senator Richard Durbin introduced identical bills, the Safe Food Act of 1997."
"...This act, if passed, would consolidate all federal food safety, labeling, and inspection programs into a new independent agency known as the Food Safety Administration (FSA)." 

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