Late Tuesday night, the House of Representatives released a $1.1-trillion spending bill to fund the federal government through the end of the fiscal year, which is Sept. 30, 2016. Lobbyists for full funding of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) were pleased with the numbers. The Food and Drug Administration will receive a total of…
FDA Tells Senate Subcommittee Full Funding is ‘Absolutely Critical’ for FSMA Success
It’s an oft-heard statement from officials at the Food and Drug Administration: The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) requires sufficient funding allocated by Congress in order to be a success. The testimony that Acting FDA Commissioner Stephen Ostroff and Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine Michael Taylor gave before the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee…
Food Safety Plays Minimal Role in House Appropriations Markup
Food safety was not a significant part of discussions Wednesday during the House Appropriations Committee markup of the agriculture funding bill. Nutrition policies, the Food for Peace program and FDA pre-market review of e-cigarettes were some of the major topics of debate. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) praised the inclusion of language in the Manager’s Amendment…
House Appropriations Gives FSMA $41.5-Million Increase
The House Appropriations Committee has allocated a $41.5-million increase for the Food and Drug Administration’s food safety activities for fiscal year 2016, but it’s less than half of what President Obama’s budget requested. Agriculture Subcommittee Chairman Robert Aderholt (R-AL) said Thursday in his opening remarks before the subcommittee’s markup of the draft appropriations bill that…
Reid Calls for Full FSMA Funding on Senate Floor
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) urged Congress to fully fund the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) in his remarks Tuesday on the floor of the U.S. Senate. “Unfortunately for many Americans, falling ill from contaminated food has become all too regular,” Reid said. He described the experiences of Rylee Gustafson and Lauren Bush, both…
Groups Want Increased Funding to Support CDC’s PulseNet Database
As Congress works to prepare its appropriations bills for fiscal year 2016, nine health and consumer groups are requesting that extra funding be allocated for the national database used to track foodborne illness outbreaks.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s PulseNet is a national network of public health and food regulatory agency laboratories that …
Savings From a Single Food Safety Agency Appeal to Some House Republicans
Some House Republicans appear to be considering proposals for a single food safety agency. In January, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced bills to establish such an agency independent of any federal department. In his budget proposal for fiscal year 2016, President Obama proposed the consolidation of the Agriculture Department’s…
FDA’s Taylor: Proposed 2016 Funding Critical for FSMA Implementation
This year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was allocated an additional $27.5 million for food safety activities, and, under the president’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2016, the agency would get another $109.5 million. In a Tuesday FDA blog post, Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine Michael Taylor explained why the increase…
Obama’s 2016 Budget: $1.6 Billion for Food Safety, Single Food-Safety Agency
President Obama’s $3.99-trillion budget proposal for fiscal year 2016, released Monday, would allot $1.6 billion to food-safety work. With all of the major Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) rules set to be finalized by the end of FY 2016, a lot of the focus is on Food and Drug Administration’s requests. 
Overall, the agency…
Food-Safety Advocates Applaud Increased FSMA, NARMS Funding
Food-safety advocates were pleased to see increased funding for the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System for Enteric Bacteria (NARMS) in the $1.1-trillion spending bill President Barack Obama signed on Tuesday. The bill provides almost $2.6 billion in discretionary funding for the Food and Drug Administration, including $903 million…