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Analytical Chemistry

Food Safety Bill Fixed

Legislation: Senate corrects mistake, passes long-delayed bill

by Britt E. Erickson
December 20, 2010

In a surprise move, the Senate passed legislation late Sunday night that would overhaul food safety in the U.S. The unexpected vote during the congressional lame-duck session brings new life to the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510), which passed the Senate on Nov. 30 but was presumed dead by many people because of a technical error (C&EN, Dec. 6, page 9).

The bill is now back in the House of Representatives for its consideration. The House is expected to clear it and send it to the President's desk this week.

The legislation would give the Food & Drug Administration sweeping new authorities to help prevent foodborne illness, including the power to recall unsafe food. It will require food producers to develop plans to prevent contamination, and it will increase the number of FDA inspections at food manufacturing facilities.

"Our food safety system has not been updated in almost a century," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said in a statement. "We unanimously passed a measure to improve on our current food safety system by giving the FDA the resources it needs to keep up with advances in food production and marketing, without unduly burdening farmers and food producers."

The food safety bill has strong bipartisan support in both chambers, but it ran into trouble last month when senators added new fees for reinspections, mandatory recalls, and importer registrations. Because all measures that involve fees must originate in the House, the bill was deemed to be unconstitutional by the House Ways & Means Committee.

To fix the error, Reid completely stripped language from an unrelated bill that originated in the House (H.R. 2751) and replaced it with the text of S. 510. The bill then passed the Senate by voice vote.

Supporters of the legislation, who had been bracing for bad news, were thrilled to see the long-delayed bill pass the Senate. "It is a huge victory for consumers following a weekend cliffhanger," says Caroline Smith DeWaal, food safety director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

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