And the people have spoken! Well, sort of.

Recently, our federal government took a major step forward by approving the Obama Administration’s food safety recommendations.  The House of Representatives passed H.R. 2749, also known as the “Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009.” 

The Food Safety Enhancement Act significantly increases the authority the Food and Drug Administration to ensure the safety of our food, as well as set regulations for facilities and importers. 

Under this legislation, food facilities are required to conduct a hazard analysis, implement preventative measures and provide a plan in the event of an outbreak.  The Secretary of Health and Human Services (the department that houses the FDA) is given the authority to create a verification program for imported foods and quarantine food in specific geographic areas in the United States in the event of an outbreak.

Additionally, the bill gives the FDA the authority to recall of contaminated food.  Previously, the FDA only had the authority to recommend the recall of a product, but it was up to the manufacturers and distributors to take action.

The FDA is required to provide science-based standards to minimize the hazards from contaminants, create an accreditation program for laboratories to test imported and exported food and establish a national traceback system.  The FDA also has the authority to assess fees related to facility reinspection or recall – a nice little incentive for manufacturers to keep facilities up to date.  Finally, every six to 12 months the agency is required to conduct inspections at high-risk facilities, like processing plants that handle products that spoil easily or facilities with a history of food safety problems.  If an inspection is delayed or refused by any facility, the food is considered to be contaminated, even if it safe to eat. 

It’s important to remember that this legislation only applies to the FDA, and these specific standards don’t apply to meat and poultry, since these products are inspected by the USDA.  But the FDA is responsible for regulating more than 80% of the food we eat, and USDA products have been regulated under tighter standards for a long time.

What’s next for H.R. 2749?  It becomes the supreme law of the land, right?  Not quite.  The bill still needs to pass the Senate, which mostly likely will not hear the issue until this fall.  Stay tuned.  We’ll keep you posted.