FOOD SAFETY LEGISLATION ON THE HORIZON
Efforts to move comprehensive food safety legislation appear to be gaining momentum in Congress. Legislative drafts have been circulating in both the House and Senate in recent weeks and are expected to be formally introduced soon, perhaps as early as this week.
Fruit and vegetable provisions can be found in separate bills being authored by Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and congressmen Jim Costa (D-CA) and Adam Putnam (R-FL). The bills propose creating a regulatory program for higher-risk commodities as determined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
The proposals would allow variances from the regulatory requirements to address differences in regional or local growing conditions. Enforcement would be coordinated with state and local government agencies.
“These bills represent a more practical approach to produce food safety than the draconian proposals we’ve seen over the past couple of years,” said FFVA President Mike Stuart.
Other food safety bills are reportedly in the drafting stage, as well.
CongressDaily AM reported last week that the House Energy and Commerce Committee could begin marking-up a bill late this month.
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