Obama Signs Food Safety Reform Bill. Now Who Will Pay for It?

It took more than a year-and-a-half of campaigning and several bumps in the road, but today, President Obama finally signed the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act into law. The legislation will overhaul the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), with the goal of closing up the gaping holes in America's food safety system and greatly reducing the incidence of foodborne illnesses. Now there's just one hurdle left — but it's a big one.

The food safety reform bill may be an official law now, but lawmakers still haven't outlined a way to pay for the legislation. The law boasts a $1.4 billion price tag, and according to several reports today, the Republican-controlled House doesn't exactly seem keen on coming up with the cash.

As Marion Nestle reports for The Atlantic, Rep. Jack Kingston, who hopes to become chairman of the agriculture subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, expressed some serious doubt about the need for this amount of dough. Kingston recently declared that "our food supply is 99.999 percent safe." He then went out to tell the Associated Press that "I think we'll look very carefully at the funding before we support $1.4 billion."

Our food supply is 99.999 percent safe, Kingston? Let's review: This summer saw the most massive outbreak of salmonella in recent history, with more than 1,600 people falling ill after eating tainted eggs from factory farms loaded with manure, maggots, and rodents. This year alone, America saw more than 85 food recalls. Not to mention the fact that Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates indicate that Americans see 48 million cases of foodborne illness every year, resulting in 180,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths. Think about the costs — both in human lives and healthcare — of all these illnesses. Still think $1.4 billion is too steep, Kingston?

The fact of the matter is that America's food system is in desperate need of reform. The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act gives the FDA the power to issue mandatory food recalls. It also mandates more frequent inspections of major manufacturers and processors like Wright County Egg and Hillendale Farms, the two egg producers fingered for this summer's salmonella outbreak. Implementing these changes would certainly close some of the holes in America's food safety system, but there's no way the FDA can make these fixes without the proper funding to do so.

It's time that lawmakers put consumers' health above price tags. The FDA needs its $1.4 billion in order to adhere to the improvements outlined in the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. Sign our petition, and ask your representatives to find a way to fund this extremely important piece of food safety reform legislation.

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Photo credit: AlishaV via Flickr