Senate passes food safety bill in wake of outbreaks

[The Straight Story]

Senate passes food safety bill in wake of outbreaks

WASHINGTON — The Senate has passed legislation to make food safer in the wake of deadly E. coli and salmonella outbreaks, potentially giving the government broad new powers to increase inspections of food processing facilities and force companies to recall tainted food.

The $1.4 billion bill, which would also place stricter standards on imported foods, passed the Senate 73-25. Supporters say passage is critical after widespread outbreaks in peanuts, eggs and produce.

Those outbreaks have exposed a lack of resources and authority at the FDA as the embattled agency struggled to contain and trace the contaminated products. The agency rarely inspects many food facilities and farms, visiting some every decade or so and others not at all.

The bill emphasizes prevention so the agency could try to stop the outbreaks before they begin.

Despite wide bipartisan support, the legislation stalled as it came under fire from advocates of buying locally produced food and operators of small farms, who say it would could bankrupt some small businesses. Senators agreed before Congress left for Thanksgiving to exempt some of those operations from costly food safety plans required of larger companies.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40432826/ns/health/from/toolbar

[kestrel91316]

1. You can pass all the food safety laws you want, but if at the same time you are

cutting the budget for safety ENFORCEMENT/INSPECTIONS you are going to accomplish less than zip.

It doesn't help that veterinary medical officers with the USDA make far less ($50-60k) than the average government worker ($80k). And VMO's are VETERINARIANS, with a DOCTORATE in veterinary medicine, and they supervise inspections and run inspection programs, so they are middle management.