Source:  Dani Friedland, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 12/22/10

The U.S. House of Representatives approved the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act in a vote Tuesday afternoon of 215 to 144.

The measure now goes to President Barack Obama for signature into law. The House had previously approved the measure on June 9, 2009. The Senate approved the package Sunday night. 

The legislation gives the FDA more authority, including the power to compel the mandatory recall of a contaminated food product and suspend a facility’s registration if a reasonable probability exists that the food it produces could cause serious health consequences or death.

It also increases the number of FDA inspections at food facilities and enhances surveillance systems for food-borne illness outbreaks. The bill also calls for the creation of a pilot project to test methods for quickly tracking and tracing food during food-borne illness outbreaks.

The bill also increases funding for the FDA, requires importers to verify the safety of imported food and calls for a national strategy to protect the food supply from terrorism.

“This legislation is long overdue,” Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) said in floor debate leading up to the vote. “It will address a situation that is shameful.”

“Food retailers and wholesalers believe that given today’s global marketplace, it is critical to provide the FDA with the authority to recall products when necessary,” Food Marking Institute President and CEO Leslie Sarasin said in a statement. “Our customers deserve to have the industry and government working together to ensure the safety of our food supply.”

Producers who sell directly to consumers and have less than $500,000 in annual sales will be exempted from some of the new regulations. These producers would still be subject to local and state food safety regulation, and the FDA would be able to withdraw the exemption if the farm or facility was associated with an outbreak of food-borne illness.

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