The Senate began debate today for a new food safety bill that will update standards, regulations and enforcement in order to reduce the number of food-borne illnesses each year.
Senate bill S. 510 — “The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act” — gives greater authority to the Food and Drug Administration to recall food products rather than relying on manufacturers to voluntarily issue recalls. The bill, estimated to cost $1.4 billion over four years, is sponsored by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) with 20 bipartisan co-sponsors.
One co-sponsor, Kay Hagan (D-NC), today reinforced a new portion of the bill inserted by Jon Tester (D-MT) that protects small farms — those with annual revenues less than $500,000 — from the new regulations because the cost of self-enforcement and meeting national quality control standards would be burdensome.
“FDA needs to be very sure about the source of a food-borne illness when it institutes a recall,” Hagan said, in today’s session. “One false recall could put a family farm out of business.”
The bill gives the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), to which the FDA reports, greater authority, including:
- Establish minimum standards for safe food production
- Assess and collect fees related to recalls and reinspections
- Inspect imported food at a greater frequency and establish offices in foreign countries which export food to the U.S. to improve food safety practices
- Improve tracking and tracing of fruits and vegetables
- Work with the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to enhance food-borne illness data collection and analysis
- Protect whistleblowers at manufacturers, processors and distributors
Legislation banning bisphenol-A (BPA), a chemical used to produce plastic bottles, did not receive enough support to be included in the bill.
More articles:
USA Today: Proposed Food Safety Bill Good for ‘Everyone Who Eats’
Washington Post: Senate Moves Ahead on Food Safety Bill
Govtrack.us: Senate Bill S. 510 (actual text)
