It's been an fairly scary year in food, from oil and Corexit threats in seafood and salmonella-tainted eggs to e. coli-related lettuce recalls and radiation-laden water. The upshot is that food is now more closely scrutinized than at any time in history, and the Food Safety Modernization Act has been signed into law, but is that quieting the butterflies in your stomach?  President Barack Obama on Tuesday signed the most sweeping overhaul of America's food safety system since 1938. The legislation gives the federal Food and Drug Administration the authority to impose new rules to prevent contamination and allows the agency to order, rather than simply suggest, the recall of tainted foods. It also authorizes the creation of a food tracking system to quickly pinpoint the source of outbreaks. The legislation requires producers to assess ways in which their products could be contaminated and to take steps to prevent such problems. It also requires importers to verify the safety of all foods they bring into the country. The result will be a fundamental shift in the FDA's approach to food safety from reacting to foodborne illness outbreaks to preventing contamination in the first place, agency Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said. Read Obama signs food safety bill on CNN Politics Get more on S.510 - the Food Safety Modernization Act: – Food safety bill, thought dead, passes unanimously – Republicans block food safety bill – Digest this: the new food safety act (and some very weird rumors) – Senate approves long-delayed food safety bill – Advocates: Food safety bill doesn't have teeth – Food safety bill 'not perfect' but historic – Op-ed: Jane Velez-Mitchell – Food safety doesn't end with S.510 – Poll: How much control should the federal government be allowed to exercise over food safety?  UPDATE: The bill has now been signed into law by President Obama. President Barack Obama is expected to sign into law the most-sweeping overhaul of America's food safety system since 1938 after he returns to Washington on Tuesday from a family vacation in Hawaii. The bill allows for greater governmental regulation of the U.S. food system - recently in the national spotlight for numerous egg and produce recalls. Among its provisions, the bill gives the federal Food and Drug Administration the authority to issue direct recalls of foods that are suspected to be tainted, rather than relying on individual producers to issue recalls voluntarily. Currently, the FDA can negotiate with companies, but has no power to enact a mandatory recall. UPDATE – The House has passed Food Safety Bill (S.510) 215 to 144 - with the provision of S.372, The Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act. The bill now goes to President Obama to sign. Read House passes food safety bill to send to Obama Sanjay Gupta spoke with chef Tom Colicchio and RedState.com editor-in-chief Erick Erickson about the growing controversy over governmental oversight of food safety, spurred on by the recent unanimous Senate vote in favor of the Food Safety Modernization Act. Get more on S.510 - the Food Safety Modernization Act: – Food safety bill, thought dead, passes unanimously – Republicans block food safety bill – Digest this: the new food safety act (and some very weird rumors) – Senate approves long-delayed food safety bill – Advocates: Food safety bill doesn't have teeth – Food safety bill 'not perfect' but historic – Op-ed: Jane Velez-Mitchell – Food safety doesn't end with S.510 – Poll: How much control should the federal government be allowed to exercise over food safety? |
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