Food safety bill finally passed by U.S. Senate

The food safety bill was approved by the Senate Tuesday following 16 months of partisan bickering. A recent flurry of salmonella and E. coli outbreaks has underscored the Food and drug administration lacks the resources to adequately protect the population from impure food. The food safety bill, coming with a price tag of $1.4 billion, authorizes the federal government to increase inspections and initiate recalls of tainted food.

Food safety bill surprisingly passes

As Congress has been doing nothing for the end of the year, the food safety bill surprisingly passed by U.S. Senate with a 73-25 vote. All food processing plants and farms with a high risk of contamination have to become inspected by the FDA each three years under the Food Safety Enhancement Act. Examinations happened only once every 10 years by the Food and Drug Administration, if it occurred at all. The food safety bill also offers the FDA authority to order mandatory recalls, instead of the current practice of waiting for corporations to do so voluntarily. There could be much more standards for imported foods as the FDA currently only inspects about 1 percent of it.

More about politics than food safety

There’s a lot of service for the food safety bill. Agribusiness and consumer advocate groups support it. The U.S. Senate waited on passing it for a year and a half due to national politics even though the House approved it in July 2009. The food safety bill did not pass last fall due to Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla. The Tea Party certainly did not like it. They said the govt was overreaching. Glenn Beck called the food safety bill a government plot to inflate meat prices and force consumers to become vegetarians. There were 85 recalls of FDA-regulated food due to 1,850 food-borne illnesses right after the bill passed in U.S. Senate.

Food industry helps bill

Agribusiness and small farms is where the conflict was for the food safety bill. All of the small farmers do not want huge standards. Major corporations have to deal with them. Of course agribusiness didn't agree. It said nobody should be excluded. After Sen. John Tester, D-Mont., added an amendment exempting small farmers, some large agricultural groups withdrew their support. However, even major corporations involved in recent recalls have said they’ll benefit from a food safety bill that provides clear regulation and levels the playing field within the food industry.

Articles cited

Washington Post

washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/29/AR2010112906058.html

USA Today

usatoday.com/yourlife/food/safety/2010-11-29-foodsafety29_ST_N.htm

Des Moines Register

desmoinesregister.com/article/20101130/BUSINESS01/11300359/1001/NEWS/Food-safety-bill-snagged-by-money-