U.S. Senate Approves Food Safety Modernization Act

摘要

Amid a lot of controversy, the Food Safety Modernization Act (S.510) was passed earlier this month by the U.S. Senate. It now goes to the House of Representatives for its approval. The first major food safety legislation in more than 70 years, it provides the Food and Drug Administration with additional resources and authority to issue mandatory recalls that help strengthen the nation's food safety system by focusing on prevention. Key points of the legislation include: The FDA would have the authority to issue direct recalls of foods that are suspected to be tainted, rather than relying on individual producers to voluntarily issue recalls; Increasing the number of food-processing plant inspections; Food producers would be required to develop written food safety plans, accessible by the government in case of emergency.