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US Senate passes food safety bill
The US Senate on Tuesday passed a sweeping food safety bill, after massive recent recalls affecting items from tainted eggs, to peanut butter, to pistachios, to spinach and milk.
The 73-25 vote sends the legislation, which strengthens the ability of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to prevent outbreaks and fight them when they occur, to the House of Representatives.
"Today's vote will finally give the FDA the tools it needs to help ensure that the food on dinner tables and store shelves is safe," said Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, a long-time champion of boosting US food safety.
Preventable foodborne illness strikes some 76 million Americans each year, requiring 325,000 to be hospitalized, and 5,000 die from contaminated food, according to Durbin's office.
The legislation will give FDA more power for inspections, mandatory recall authority, and the technology to trace an outbreak back to its source, said Durbin, who warned "Our vigilance must continue."
The vote came after a massive August recall of eggs after a salmonella outbreak that sickened some 1,700 people. Overall, More than half a billion eggs were recalled this year, the largest recall in the US industry's history.
An estimated 400,000 people are infected with food-borne salmonella each year in the United States, according to the CDC. It can be deadly to vulnerable populations such as the young, elderly, or those with weakened immune systems.
The legislation had support from some 30 groups, representing consumers and industry.
