Time for Senate to Strengthen Food Safety

Statement by Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director, Food & Water Watch

After the recent recall of half a billion eggs, it’s fair to ask when the Senate plans to deal with the food safety bill. The Food Safety Modernization Act, S.510, has been waiting for action since the House of Representatives passed its own food safety bill last year. In order to move closer towards fixing our broken food system, there are two critical components that should be added to S. 510:

1) An amendment to ease the burden on small farmers and processors who sell their products directly to consumers. This would be fulfilled by an amendment by Senator Jon Tester (D-Mont.)

2) Increased the frequency of FDA inspections of food processing plants. The bill calls for a five-year inspection frequency for high-risk food plants and a seven-year inspection frequency for lower risk food plants. In contrast, the bill passed by the House has a six to 12-month inspection frequency for high risk food plants, low-risk plants would be inspected every 18 months to three years and food warehouses every five years.

The Senate has been dragging on this process long enough. It’s time to pass this legislation so it can be conferenced with the House version to come up with the strongest bill possible to address the holes in FDA’s food safety net.

Contact: Anna Ghosh, 415-293-9905, aghosh(at)fwwatch(dot)org