We’ve all heard the saying that “too many chefs spoil the soup.”
However, it took many chefs to craft the right recipe for landmark food safety legislation that was signed by the president just last week.
The legislation marks the most sweeping reform of food safety oversight in more than 70 years. Although it will greatly improve our ability to detect and respond to outbreaks of foodborne illness, the new law is historic because Congress has made the prevention of food contamination the central focus of the nation’s food safety strategies. The days when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will do little more than respond to outbreaks are over.
As a result of this new law, every food manufacturer will have to constantly look for potential food safety threats, adopt appropriate measures to avoid dangers in food and document those steps in a food safety plan made available to inspectors. FDA will have the power to set safety standards for fruits and vegetables and will regularly review and revise them. Every food importer will have to ensure that their suppliers overseas have adopted U.S. food safety standards and practices. And, FDA will be inspecting food manufacturing facilities – especially overseas facilities – more than ever.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: The Hill's Congress Blog.