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congress passes food safety reform
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in the wake of a spate of high-profile foodborne illness outbreaks, the food safety modernization act passed the house on tuesday and is heading to the president, who has said he will pass the bill into law. passing with a vote of 215-144, the bill faced a large number of obstacles along the way, including a filibuster attempt, a technical glitch, and strong debate over certain amendments, despite enjoying widespread bipartisan support from industry, consumer, and health organizations. the senate passed the bill by unanimous consent late on sunday, following a last-minute deal between majority leader harry reid (d-nv) and minority leader mitch mcconnell (r-ky). following house passage of the bill, president and ceo of the grocery manufacturers association pamela bailey said: “over the past two days the senate and the house have each come together in bipartisan fashion to do the right thing: strengthen and modernize america’s food safety system and help restore the public’s faith in the safety and security of the food supply. “…this landmark legislation provides fda with the resources and authorities the agency needs to help strengthen our nation’s food safety system by making prevention the focus of our food safety strategies.” the legislation will give the fda the authority to order product recalls, will require that food manufacturers have detailed food safety plans and give the fda better access to company records. it also contains a provision to protect employees who flag up food safety concerns. however, some critics of the bill have said that it will give the government more power without making the food supply safer. “washington’s answer to every problem is to give the federal government more power and control,” said congressman tom price (r-ga). “what we really need is smarter regulation and better information in the marketplace.” and others have criticized the inclusion of an amendment that exempts smaller businesses from the new law, including the united fresh produce association which withdrew its support for the bill after inclusion of the tester-hagan amendment. the association’s senior vice president of public policy robert guenther said on tuesday evening: “today is a day of mixed feelings for our members who have worked long and hard to pass food safety reforms, as this remains a job that is very much unfinished. moving forward, as we always do, united fresh will continue to work with our allies in the new congress, voicing our strong support for uniform, risk-based food safety standards to which all can be held accountable, regardless of size.” the bill was prompted by a rash of large-scale foodborne illness outbreaks and product recalls, including lettuce, spinach and peppers, among others. but it was the peanut product recall of early 2009 that gave lawmakers the final impetus needed to get new food safety legislation before congress. salmonella-tainted peanut products from the peanut corporation of america caused more than 700 reported illnesses nationwide (the total number affected has been estimated at 22,500) and nine deaths – and led to one of the largest product recalls in us history, affecting thousands of products from hundreds of companies. the food safety enhancement act that was drafted in the wake of that outbreak passed the house in july 2009, and its companion bill, the food safety modernization act , passed unanimously through committee in november last year. however, it was only in november 2010 that it was finally considered in the senate after a packed legislative agenda including jobs and health care reform stalled its progress. about one in six americans is becomes sick as a result of foodborne illness each year, according to figures from the centers for disease control and prevention (cdc), and 3,000 die. recalls, legal expenses and lost sales resulting from foodborne pathogens cost food manufacturers billions of dollars each year. the legislation is expected to cost $1.4bn over the next four years, including the cost of hiring about 2,000 new fda inspectors.
Source :foodqualitynews.com
Date :
22
December
2010
Category :
Food And Health
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the food safety modernization act’s preventive approach to food safety may seem obvious in hindsight – and it is already a food industry norm, fda’s deputy commissioner for foods said on thursday. the food safety modernization act , which was signed into law in january, has been hailed as a major shift in the food and drug administration’s (fda) approach to food safety, toward prevention of foodborne illness rather than reaction to outbreaks once they have occurred.
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most americans would be prepared to pay more for food in order to fund new food safety measures, according to a survey conducted on behalf of pew charitable trusts. the pew-commissioned telephone poll of 1,015 likely voters was carried out by hart research and american viewpoint, and found that two-thirds (66 percent) supported extra funding for the food and drug administration (fda) to carry out new food safety responsibilities.
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the food safety enhancement act has been broadly welcomed by industry but a group of organizations has issued a letter to the relevant committee voicing strong opposition to several of the bill’s provisions. the agribusiness organizations’ objections have been raised as the bipartisan bill was passed by the energy and commerce committee on wednesday, moving the process forward to the house floor for full approval.
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a report into the mass outbreak of e. coli in wales calls on the uk's food regulator to look into whether there should be more legislation and guidance on plant inspections. the report, an outcome of a food poisoning outbreak that killed one boy and resulted in the closure of a manufacturer, could lead to more stringent inspections policy and a review of the rules giving local authorities the power to shut down plants.
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with the ushering in of new hygiene laws at the start of this year, food companies are now under tougher regulatory scrutiny to ensure they do not send out poisonous products from their plants. laws on food hygiene, a regulation on microbiological criteria for foodstuffs, a regulation on official feed and food controls, and another on feed hygiene make up a complementary package of rules to tighten and harmonise the eu's safety measures.
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a top level forum made up of regulators, industry players and consumer groups is holding its first meeting today as part of a uk bid to tackle a slew of issues surrounding nanotechnology in the food sector. intelligence gathering on nano research and the controversial proposal to set up a nanotech register for food and packaging products are just some of the major issues to be addressed at the inaugural meeting of the nanotechnologies and food discussion group.
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the centers for disease control and prevention (cdc) has revised downward its estimate of the number of americans who become sick due to foodborne illness each year – from 76m to 48m. the revised figures estimate that one in six americans fall ill as a result of foodborne pathogens each year – down from one in four according to the cdc’s previous estimate. the agency has more than halved its estimation of the number of people who are hospitalized as a result of foodborne illness , from 375,000 a year to 128,000.
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chinese authorities have said its new food safety law, which comes into effect today, will help prevent the food contamination incidents that have caused so much damage to the reputation of its domestic producers. the legislation aims to toughen up the country’s food monitoring network by imposing more stringent standards, stricter supervision and a recall system for tainted or substandard products.
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Coca.Cola
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PEPSI
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Mcdonald
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Nestle
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Mars
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Baskin & Robins
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Nutrika
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Mumika
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Chika
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