Sebelius announces new food safety Web site

The Obama administration is rolling out a new Web site designed to streamline food safety information for consumers.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the new Web site - http://www.foodsafety.gov - on Wednesday during the Consumer Federation of America's food policy conference. The site will put food-related information from all federal agencies in one place, including recall and contamination alerts and tips on how to safely handle food.

The Web site is a joint effort between HHS, the Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration.

Sebelius says the site would help consumers who have been worried about product recalls.

The consumer Web site is the second federal initiative announced in as many days on food safety. On Tuesday, the FDA announced more stringent rules for reporting potential contaminations and the creation of a new electronic database for manufacturers to use to report food safety issues.

Under the new rules, producers are required to report products that could harm consumers within 24 hours.

The law creating the database was passed in 2007, after Congress criticized the FDA for its handling of safety problems involving a variety of food and drugs.