US: Senate food bill good 1st step, needs work: FDA

A Senate bill that would expand U.S. Food and Drug Administration oversight and give it the power to recall food is a step forward but it needs to be stronger, the head of the agency told lawmakers on Thursday.

Dr. Margaret Hamburg, the FDA commissioner, said the legislation does not include several crucial measures, including giving FDA better access to company food records during routine inspections, flexibility to target inspections at areas of greatest risk and enough money to do the job.

"The legislation is a major step in the right direction," Hamburg told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

The U.S. food supply has been battered by a series of high-profile outbreaks involving lettuce, peppers, peanuts and spinach since 2006. Consumer groups, lawmakers and the Obama administration have proposed ways to overhaul the antiquated food safety system and reform the FDA.

The Senate bill is similar to legislation that passed the House of Representatives in July, which gave FDA mandatory recall authority, increased the frequency of food inspections and required all facilities to have a food safety plan in place. The FDA now can only recommend food recalls in most cases.

Senator Tom Harkin, chairman of the committee, said he would push the bipartisan legislation "with hopes of getting the bill passed on down to the White House before the year's end."

Hamburg urged the Senate panel to adopt some of the same provisions as the House bill, including new fees for the higher inspection costs and greater FDA access to records at food production facilities. The Senate bill would allow FDA access to company records, but only in a food emergency.


Source: reuters.com

Publication date: 10/26/2009

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