President Obama's FDA Moves to Implement Sweeping New Food Regulations

[ProSense]

President Obama's FDA Moves to Implement Sweeping New Food Regulations

by Dartagnan

The past three Presidential Administrations have all made use of the tactic known as the "Friday news dump." The Bush Administration, in particular, would routinely drop bad economic news and noxious acts of environmental deregulation on Fridays, often Friday evenings, to avoid widely-seen news coverage, the thought being that fewer people read or otherwise attend to the news on Saturdays and therefore these actions--in Bush's case usually naked concessions and political "payback" to polluters and industry groups friendly to Republicans--would be less likely to be scrutinized or even noticed by the public.

Yesterday the Obama Administration turned the Friday news dump on its head, once again demonstrating what it means to be living under a regime that actually works to benefit the American public, rather than to actively harm it.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/fda-begins-implementing-sweeping-food-safety-law/2013/01/04/b58780b8-567c-11e2-8b9e-dd8773594efc_story.html

Two years ago President Obama signed into law the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), the most sweeping overhaul and reform of our Food Safety laws in 70 years. According to the FDA website, the law

(A)ims to ensure the U.S. food supply is safe by shifting the focus from responding to contamination to preventing it.

The last overhaul of our food safety regulations occurred in 1938. The FSMA legislation was one of the last acts of the 2010 Congress and was opposed by Republicans, 73-25. As the Washington Post explains, yesterday, and pursuant to the Act, the FDA issued the first of what are expected to be a panoply of proposed new rules affecting food safety in this country:

The long-awaited proposals by the Food and Drug Administration are part of a fundamental change aimed at preventing food-borne outbreaks — caused by everything from leafy greens to canteloupes to peanut butter — rather than simply reacting to them. Every year, contaminated foods sicken an estimated 48 million Americans and kill 3,000.

The rules, which span 1,200 pages, are aimed at creating safer conditions from farm to fork. Produce farmers would be required to ensure that their crops aren’t contaminated by bad water or animal waste. Some will likely be compelled to build fences to keep out wildlife and to provide adequate restrooms and hand-washing facilities for field workers.

Food-processing companies would be required to design and document an exhaustive regimen of sanitary measures — from pest control to bathroom cleanliness to what workers wear on the factory floor.

House Republicans, the same people who will claim to represent Americans' interests in the coming debt ceiling debate, have attempted to derail the regulations by cutting the FDA's budget, leading Nancy Pelosi to dub them the "E. Coli Club."

- more -

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/01/05/1176475/-President-Obama-s-FDA-Moves-to-Implement-Sweeping-New-Food-Regulations

[Cha]

1. thank you, ProSense

The farm and manufacturing rules are only one part of the food safety law. The bill also authorized more surprise inspections by the FDA and gave the agency additional powers to shut down food facilities. In addition, the law required stricter standards on imported foods. The agency said it will soon propose other overdue rules to ensure that importers verify that overseas food is safe and to improve food safety audits overseas.

[gateley]

2. K&R! Happy to hear this! Thanks!!

[mzmolly]

3. Change

... we can believe in.

[ProSense]

4. Kick! n/t