WASHINGTON—The first major U.S. food safety overhaul in 70 years will soon be signed into law. Amid the final flurry of lame duck legislating dominated by a bipartisan compromise tax package, wrangling over government funding, and the START treaty, a number of other important bills were able to make their way through Congress, including one that greatly enhances the power of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate the U.S. food supply.
Provisions within the Food Safety Modernization Act aim to prevent future outbreaks of the kinds of food-borne illnesses seen in recent years, such as those involving salmonella in spinach and jalapeno peppers (initially blamed on tomatoes), and contaminated peanuts.
Food-borne diseases cause approximately 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths in the United States each year, according to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Expanded FDA powers will give the government new power to order a recall if a company fails to do so voluntarily. Until now, the FDA relied on the media to raise public alarm during a disease outbreak, which in most cases compelled companies to issue recalls to protect their brand credibility.
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