Food bill passes House on second try
July 31st, 2009 joshua
Rejected earlier this week mainly on voting procedural rules, a wide-ranging food safety bill has passed the U.S. House of Representatives.
The new laws will give the Food and Drug Administration more power in enacting recalls on suspected contaminated food as well as enforcing its own laws through fines and other legal measures.
These laws were an almost knee-jerk reaction to the scores of food recalls because of bacterial infections in recent years. Hundreds have died and thousands have fallen ill because of Salmonella-contaminated produce or snacks or E. coli-contaminated beef, simply to name a few.
Earlier this week, Representatives rejected nearly the exact same measure because it did not have a two-thirds majority. With those rules out, the bill passed on a second vote.
Notable in the legislation is a $500 annual fee food producers must pay to operate or sell products in the U.S. Regulators plan on collecting this money as a fund for inspection efforts at food manufacturing facilities.
While some lawmakers argue this fee will be reflected through the increased cost of food, it is lax inspection efforts that allowed rogue food manufacturers to operate under the nose of a toothless FDA.
The FDA currently has limited power when it comes to recalling tainted foods. It can only demand recalls on items like baby formulas, but under the new laws, will be able to expand that power.
The bill now goes to the Senate and then eventually to President Barack Obama for final approval.
