In just the past few months, outbreaks involving romaine lettuce, pre-cut melons and Honey Smacks cereal have reminded us that the work to more effectively prevent foodborne illness is far from complete. People are still getting sick and dying, and markets are still being disrupted. Make no mistake, the commitment and effort are there among…
Trump wants a single federal food safety agency put under USDA
President Donald J. Trump wants to consolidate federal food safety under a single agency housed in the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
President Barack Obama also wanted to consolidate food safety, only he preferred housing it in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Food and Drug Administration.
Obama failed because Congress…
Was that pasteurization vote with or without representation?
Some might consider putting Congress on record for or against raw milk as an accomplishment, especially it the vote wasn’t close. An amendment to House Resolution 2 that sought to allow raw milk shipments between any of the 28 states where sales are legal went down 79-331.
It is thought to be the first up…
U.S. representative wants review of lab meat, cell-cultured food
Editor’s note: U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-CT, sent the below letter regarding so-called lab meat and other cell-cultured foods to Gene Dodaro, comptroller general of the United States, on March 28.
Dear Mr. Dodaro:
I am writing to request that GAO investigate what regulatory framework, if any, exists for cell-cultured food products and how this…
Appropriation Committees split over ban on equine inspections
With the ban on USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service spending any federal money on equine inspections set to expire Sept. 30, the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate are divided over whether to extend it.
The last time a horse was legally slaughtered for human consumption in the U.S. was in 2007.
Congress has…
More money for military defense means less for food defense
Editor’s note: This column includes information from an “Advocacy at a Glance” posting by the Alliance for a Stronger FDA and analysis and commentary by Steven Grossman, deputy executive director of the alliance, both republished here with permission.
President Donald Trump is proposing shifting $54 billion from domestic to defense programs in fiscal year 2018,…
Before you cast a ballot, find out how they voted on food safety
Editor’s note: Food Policy Action (FPA) issued its National Food Policy Scorecard for the 114th Congress on Oct. 17, revealing how members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives voted on key food issues. The organization released this statement with the scorecard, which is presented in the form of an interactive map on its …
Comprehensive verification toolkit is needed domestically, too
Dan Flynn’s June 6 article in Food Safety News, “Third-party auditor certification: Not the only tool in the toolkit,” makes the case that the Food and Drug Administration should not overly rely on third-party audits to oversee the safety of imported foods under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). This is certainly true for…
House leaders asked not to vote on Senate resolution to end USDA catfish inspection
A bipartisan congressional group mostly representing the Gulf states, but also including food safety advocate Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), has asked the House leadership not to take up the recently passed Senate resolution which would end the nation’s only catfish inspection program. “The Senate recently passed S.J. Res. 28, a Congressional Review Act resolution which…
Letter From the Editor: Spending Trickles Down to Food Safety
They say that confession is good for the soul, so here goes. My confession is that I find most all of the peripheral food issues around food safety pretty boring. I was hoping Congress would take more of them off the table in the $1.1-trillion omnibus spending bill it passed on Friday. Just for the…
Spending Bill Includes $104-Million Increase for FSMA, COOL Repeal
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…