(Washington,
D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) applauded the passage of S.510,
the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. This legislation is the result of
two years of bipartisan collaboration and passed the Senate today by a vote of
73-25. According to the Centers for Disease Control, approximately 5,000
Americans die each year from food borne illness and a recent Georgetown study
estimated that food borne illness costs the United States over $150 billion
annually.
“This
legislation is the first food safety legislation to pass in decades and will go
a long way toward making sure that the U.S. continues to have the safest food
supply in the world,”
said Senator Patty Murray. “My grandparents ran a family farm in the
Tri-Cities and I worked to make sure that this bill maintained the right
balance between allowing small farmers to operate and the need for protections
for families.”
The
House of Representatives has passed a similar version of this bill. If this
bill is signed into law it would mark the first major overhaul of food safety
since 1940 when authority over food and drugs was moved from the USDA to the
precursor of the FDA.
FDA
Food Safety Modernization Act:
- Improves Capacity to Prevent Food Safety
Problems - Requires Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based
Preventative Controls - Improves Capacity to Detect and Respond to Food
Safety Problems - Improves the Safety of Imported Food
- Provides Authorization for Increased Food Safety
Funding - Includes Whistleblower Protections
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