Ending a dramatic months-long legislative limbo, the House approved major food safety legislation 215-144 Tuesday. The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, the first significant reform since 1938 of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s oversight of the food supply, is expected to be signed by President Obama before Christmas.
The
The House is expected to approve major food safety legislation today. Though many on Capitol Hill pronounced the bill dead last week, the measure bounced back to life over the weekend when the Senate unanimously–and quite unexpectedly– advanced the beleaguered bill late Sunday night.
The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act
Continue Reading House Expected to Approve Food Safety Bill Today
The food safety bill–S. 510, the Food Safety Modernization Act–which some had given up for dead, was revived late Sunday attached to a shell bill and passed unanimously just before the Senate adjourned for the day.
The bill, with the Tester/Hagan small farm exemption intact, now goes back to the
Continue Reading Sunday Surprise: Senate Passes Food Safety Bill
Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC) emphasized her support for small farmers Monday at the 75th annual convention of the North Carolina Farm Bureau in Greensboro, NC.
“Whether it’s our large commodity producers or our small, local producers, it is a credit to all of our farmers’ hard work and
Over the last two years, food producers large and small, consumer and public health groups, and Congressional leaders have come together to support legislation that would bring the most significant update to food safety laws in seven decades. To the chagrin of everyone who worked hard to get S. 510
Continue Reading Once GOP is in the Kitchen, Food Safety is Toast
A serious constitutional snafu is threatening to derail pending food safety legislation, which passed the Senate by a 3-1 margin early Tuesday.
The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, S. 510, would be the most significant update of food safety laws in over seven decades, but it has become clear
Continue Reading Constitutional Slip Up Adds Uncertainty to S. 510
While the Senate vote on S 510 was somewhat divided, 73 yeas to 25 nays, the response from interest groups appears to be mostly supportive. Here’s a sampling of responses received by Food Safety News staff:
Elizabeth Hitch, Public Health Advocate, US Public Interest Research Group:
“According to the CDC
Here’s a summary of what’s in the Senate food safety bill, from sponsor Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), as well as what’s needed to reconcile it with the House version, from the Congressional Research Service:
Who’s covered: Producers of all domestic and imported food products, including seafood, fish and shellfish,
Continue Reading S. 510: Some of the Details
The nation’s biggest fresh produce handlers, distributors and retailers received a gift last week when Food Safety News published an apparently long-planned Q&A with Bob Whitaker, Chief Science Officer for the Produce Marketing Association. Dr. Whitaker used this opportunity to decry the supposedly grave threat to public safety from small
I’ve been worrying over some of the provisions of this bill, especially since some of my friends in small production agriculture are so dead set against it. They believe that the food safety requirements are an onerous encroachment on our freedom to produce, purchase and eat anything we want.
“It
