President Barack Obama (D) signed the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (H.R. 2751) into law on January 4, 2011, ending a complicated legislative journey that began with House approval in 2009. In essence, the law gives the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to order food product recalls, calls for more frequent facility inspections, enhances FDA’s ability to oversee food imports, requires food facilities to have written safety plans, establishes science-based standards for the safe production and harvesting of produce, and exempts small farms that sell directly to local consumers from a number of provisions. As Commissioner of Food and Drugs Margaret Hamburg has noted, while some of the changes take effect immediately, others depend on budgeting. According to her blog post, “The funding we get each year, which affects our staffing and our vital and far-ranging operations, will also affect how this legislation is implemented . . .…
Tag Archives food safety/FSMA
In response to an Office of Management and Budget (OMB) request, the Business Roundtable and The Business Council have prepared a report with a list of laws and regulations that the nation’s business leaders reportedly believe “have a dampening effect on economic growth and job creation.” Among the business groups’ concerns are proposals that would affect how the food and beverage sectors conduct business. Titled “Policy Burdens Inhibiting Economic Growth,” the report cited Food and Drug Administration food labeling policies, proposals to increase beverage taxes, pending changes to food safety laws, proposed nutrition standards, and youth marketing initiatives as areas of particular concern. OMB Watch, an organization dedicated to “equitable regulatory and budgetary processes,” questioned the timing of the White House invitation, claiming that recent economic and environmental catastrophes were due to lax regulation and not “because government has been too zealous.” Acknowledging that OMB may have initiated the dialogue as…
U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) has reportedly introduced the Growing Safe Food Act (S. 2758) to “help educate and train farmers and food processors in food safety.” Similar to the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510) now stalled in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Growing Safety Food Act would create “a national food safety training, education, extension, outreach and technical assistance program for agricultural producers,” including small and mid-sized farms, food processors and wholesalers. The bill also requests $50 million to administer a competitive grant program, which would assist small and mid-sized businesses in “the areas of handling practices, manufacturing, produce safety standards, risk analysis, sanitation standards, safe packaging, storage, traceability, record-keeping, and food safety audits,” according to a November 10, 2009, press released issued by Stabenow, who penned the legislation after small farmers expressed concern that the Food Safety Modernization Act would impose prohibitive inspection fees and…
U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), and Richard Burr (R-N.C.) have introduced the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510), which would expand and strengthen the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) authority to address the safety of the nation’s food supply. The proposal, which has reportedly attracted the support of industry and consumer groups alike, would increase the frequency of food plant inspections, expand FDA’s access to records, give the agency the authority to recall tainted food products, and require the creation of a national strategy to protect the food supply from terrorist threats and intentional contamination. Originally introduced in July 2008 with many of the same sponsors, the bill would require all food facilities to have HACCP plans in effect and allow the FDA to suspend the registration of any food facility that “has a reasonable probability of causing serious adverse health consequences or…
