House Approves Bill Overhauling Food Safety Laws
By a 283-142 vote, the U.S. House of Representatives has passed the “Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009” (H.R. 2749). The day before its passage, the measure failed to garner the two-thirds majority vote needed to approve legislation submitted under “suspension of the rules,” which would not have allowed any floor amendments. The second submission, on July 30, 2009, needed only a simple majority vote, which was handily achieved. According to news sources, farm-state lawmakers were able to insert several last-minute changes that would exempt some growers from the new farming standards and restrict recordkeeping requirements for livestock farmers. The pork industry apparently kept some proposed restrictions on antibiotic use out of the final bill.
Heralded by some as an historic moment for food safety, the bill would provide for more frequent inspections of processing plants and would give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to order the recall of tainted foods. The increased inspections would be financed with a yearly $500 fee imposed on food processing plants, although a cap of $175,000 would apply to large companies with numerous facilities. The measure also contains provisions for the adoption of processing-plant safety standards, food traceability, criminal and civil penalties, inspection protocols for imported foods, and restrictions on bisphenol A in food and beverage containers.
Similar legislation will be considered in the U.S. Senate, although that body is not expected to take up the proposal until fall 2009. While industry groups, such as the Grocery Manufacturers Association, and consumer organizations reportedly supported the House bill, others were concerned that it will, if ultimately enacted, raise food prices and burden small farms and processors. Still, the bill’s current registration requirements do not “include farms; private residences of individuals, restaurants, other retail food establishments; nonprofit food establishments in which food is prepared for or served directly to the consumer.” Nor do they apply to farms that sell primarily through farmers’ markets. See The Des Moines Register and CQ Today, July 29, 2009; The New York Times and FoodProductionDaily.com, July 31, 2009.
Meanwhile, Representative Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) has introduced legislation (H.R. 3317) that would require food producers to label their products with a notation that they contain less than 0.5 grams of trans fat, rather than continuing to use a “zero” trans fat label for foods with less than 0.5 grams of the substance. Titled the “Trans Fat Truth in Labeling Act of 2009,” the bill has been referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
