Food Safety Reform Bill Passes in the Senate. Now What?

Update 12/21/10: It took more than a year-and-a-half of pushing, but on December 21, 2010, Congress finally passed the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510). The move came after more than 1,800 Change.org members signed our petition asking Congress to pass the food safety reform bill. You can read more about this victory here.

After more than a year-and-a-half of heated debate, Congressional foot-dragging, and all-out campaigning, history was made today as the Senate voted in favor of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510), the food safety reform bill. While some foodies whipped out the party hats at the passage, others expressed fears that this kind of legislation gives the government too much power and may hurt the local food movement.

As I've written before on Change.org, S. 510 aims to seal up some of the gaping holes in America's food safety system. In other words, the legislation hopes to prevent massive food contamination outbreaks like this summer's salmonella scare. The legislation would accomplish this feat by overhauling the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), giving the agency the power to issue mandatory food recalls if a contamination issue arises (under current laws, the FDA can only ask companies to issue voluntary recalls — a "Pretty-please-don't-make-us-sick" kind of tactic). S. 510 also requires that every food processing facility implement a safety plan and mandates more frequent inspections of food production and processing sites. Right now, sites like Wright County Egg — which churn out billions of eggs a year — may go five or even 10 years without a safety inspection.

Of particular importance to sustainable foodies is the Tester-Hagan amendment, a measure that exempts small farmers and producers from meeting some of S. 510's requirements. The reasoning goes that small producers — like those that sell at local farmers' markets — don't have the man-power or money to jump through legislative hurdles, nor are they the ones responsible for creating massive food contamination outbreaks. Therefore, they shouldn't be obligated to meet the same criteria as multi-million-dollar factory farms and food processing facilities. When the Senate passed S. 510, they included the Tester-Hagan amendment in the final bill.

The Senate bill passed with a 73-25 bipartisan vote and now must get approval from the House. The House passed a stronger version of S. 510 more than a year-and-a-half ago, so we'll have to wait and see if representatives give this version the green light. If they do, the bill then moves to President Obama's desk to be signed into law.

As the 76 million Americans who come down with foodborne illness every year can attest, America's food safety system is in desperate need of reform. Despite that fact, S. 510 is actually a seriously contentious issue even within the sustainable food community. Some organizations and experts — like Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser — support the bill, claiming that we've got to do something to take unscrupulous producers like Wright County Egg and Hillendale Farms to task. Other non-profits and sustainable foodies are vehemently opposed to S. 510, arguing that it provides the FDA with too much power and will ultimately hurt the producers who are doing things right — small farmers and local food providers. It will be interesting to see what the House does because ultimately the sustainable food community — and the country at large — stands pretty divided on the issue.

More than 1,600 Change.org members have asked Congress to pass the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. If you agree, you can lend your support by signing our petition asking lawmakers to vote in favor of the food safety reform bill.

Photo credit: Food Insight via Flickr