Federal FDA Food Safety System Still in the Works
After an unfortunate sequence of fatal food-borne illness outbreaks involving various food products ranging from peanuts to cookie dough to spinach, a Senate bill, the Food Safety Modernization Act, has recently been approved. However, according to nj.com, even though the bill to refurbish the FDA’s food safety system was unanimously accepted, it may not receive a floor vote until 2010. This may be partly due to the issue of funding for the food safety reform, which would drastically improve and increase Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory powers.
The chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee says the new FDA program may cost almost $4 billion over a period of five years. Considering that the FDA safeguards approximately 80% of the U.S. food supply, which includes imports from over 200 countries, there is no doubt that this bill will greatly help their efforts and is worth the cost.
The reformed safety program would allow the FDA the ability to order a food recall rather than force them to wait for a producer to respond to a recall request. The Senate Bill will also enforce more regulated inspections, especially for high-risk facilities. If passed in 2010, this will be the first major food safety reform since the Great Depression.
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