Food Safety Overhaul Passes Senate

Landmark food safety reform legislation that aims to curb the incidence of food recalls, foodborne illnesses and shoddy practices by American food producers and importers passed the U.S. Senate with broad bipartisan support today and is awaiting final approval by the House of Representatives before it is signed into law.

The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, which has been stalled in the Senate for more than a year due to influential agribusiness interests, overhauls 70 years of antiquated laws and poor record of inspections by regulators. The bill, backed by a who's who of consumer and industry organizations, requires high-risk producers to be inspected much more frequently, vests the FDA with recall authority and sets rigorous standards for food safety at farms and factories.