Food Safety Legislative Update
We wrote recently about the food safety legislation coming out of Henry Waxman’s House Committee on Energy and Commerce. That legislation, H.R. 2749, has passed out of committee and been reported to the full House for a vote. When the vote will occur is anybody’s guess. Reuters quotes Chairman Waxman as saying, “I am hopeful that before too long, we can have a comprehensive food safety bill on President Obama’s desk.”
Obama Administration Focuses on Food Safety
The Obama administration placed food safety front and center over the weekend. In his weekly radio address, President Obama on Saturday announced new leadership at the Food and Drug Administration and the creation of a panel to toughen food safety laws.
Characterizing outdated food safety laws and the lack of resources at the FDA as “a hazard to public health,” Mr. Obama announced the appointment of Dr. Margaret Hamburg, a former New York City health commissioner, as FDA commissioner, and Baltimore Health Commissioner Dr. Joshua Sharfstein as the FDA principal deputy commissioner. The president also unveiled the Food Safety Working Group – a group that will consist of cabinet secretaries and senior officials to advise the president on how to update and enforce food safety laws.
President Obama also announced two additional food-safety steps on Saturday: closing a loophole in federal regulation that allows some diseased cows to be slaughtered for food, and a billion-dollar investment to modernize labs and increase the number of food inspectors.
Read a transcript of the president’s weekly radio address, download the .mp3 audio, or view the video below.
