U.S. Senate to Consider Food Safety Crime Bill

The Senate Judiciary Committee has sent to the Senate a food safety crime
bill (S. 216). Designed to “strengthen criminal penalties for companies that
knowingly violate food safety standards and place tainted food products on
the market,” the legislation would increase offenses from a misdemeanor to
a felony, establish fines and give law enforcement the ability to seek prison
sentences of up to 10 years. “The fines and recalls that usually result from
criminal violations under current law fall short in protecting the public from
harmful products,” Leahy said in a statement. Details of the Food Safety
Accountability Act, first proposed in summer 2010 by Senator Patrick Leahy
(D-Vt.) and reintroduced in January, appear in Issue 380 of this Update. See
Press Release of Senator Patrick Leahy, March 31, 2011.