Last night, the House of Representatives passed the Food Safety Enhancement Act, legislation designed to give the FDA more authority and oversight over food producers.  The House approved the bill by a vote of 283 to142.

In a statement after the vote, President Barack Obama said the legislation was a “major step forward in modernizing our food-safety system and protecting Americans from food-borne illness.”

Jean Halloran, Consumers Union's Director of Food Policy Initiatives, said, "This bill will go a long way to prevent a repeat of deadly contaminations like the salmonella-laced peanut butter that caused hundreds of illnesses and nine deaths earlier this year.”

Consumers Union has long advocated for measures contained in the FSEA to improve food safety by giving the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to recall contaminated food, requiring FDA to inspect high-risk facilities at least every six months to a year, and enacting other critical reforms, citing the string of serious food-borne illnesses linked to peanut butter, spinach, peppers, and other common foods.

Ami Gadhia, policy counsel for Consumers Union, said, "This bill will make a fundamental difference in keeping our food safe and our families safe. This reform is long overdue, and we’re optimistic that the momentum is building for these changes to finally become law.  We commend the House leadership for taking action and finding common ground on food safety.  We hope the Senate will act promptly to pass a similarly strong bill after the recess.”

The U.S. Senate will likely give this legislation high priority once they return from summer recess.

- Don Mays