The bill passed by the Senate today, called the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, provides new food safety tools and updates safety standards to detect contaminated foods.
“High-profile outbreaks in recent years revealed major cracks in our nation’s food safety system. The aim of this legislation is to ensure that Americans are consuming only safe foods,” Bingaman said.
The legislation does the following:
In addition, the bill requires importers to verify the safety of foreign suppliers and imported food, allows the FDA to require certification for high-risk foods, and to deny entry to a food that lacks certification or that is from a foreign facility that has refused U.S. inspectors.
Improves Our Capacity to Detect and Respond to Food-borne Illness Outbreaks
The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act also takes the following safety steps:
The bill will now be sent to the House of Representatives for passage.
Jude McCartin
Maria Najera
703 Hart Building
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-5521