New Hampshire senator introduces bill to increase food safety standards

FOOD

New Hampshire Union Leader

Aoife Connors

Boston University Washington News Service

March 3, 2009

WASHINGTON - Legislation calling for a significant increase in the safety procedures governing the U.S. food supply was introduced Tuesday by a bipartisan group of senators, including Judd Gregg (R-N.H.).

Greater authority would be given to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to improve the protection and safety of the U.S. food supply.

“Americans spend more than $1 trillion on food each year,” Gregg said. “When families go to the local restaurant or to the grocery story, or when children go to school, they shouldn’t have to worry about whether or not they will become ill from the food they eat.”

The bill aims to increase the frequency of inspections at all food facilities and give the FDA expanded access to records and testing results. This would allow the FDA to recall a dangerous food product if a company fails to recall a product at the agency’s request. 

The recall of salmonella-tainted peanut products in January, one of the biggest food recalls in U.S. history, prompted the introduction of the legislation. More than 650 people were sickened and 9 died as a result of the national salmonella outbreak caused by contaminated peanut products.

The peanut recall, Gregg said, “highlights the need for Congress to act to modernize and strengthen our nation’s food safety laws.”

The bill would increase the FDA’s ability to detect and respond to food-borne illness outbreaks by “increasing inspections at all food facilities,” Gregg said, and would give the agency the power to suspend registered food facilities if there is a probability that the food poses a threat to consumers at both domestic and foreign facilities.

“I’m glad we are bringing this important issue to the forefront during the 111th Congress, and I look forward to working with my Senate colleagues on this bipartisan legislation to ensure the safety of our food and restore confidence in the quality of these products for families in New Hampshire and throughout our country,” he added.

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