Food Safety Gets Senate's Attention as Law Overhaul Is Approved

Reacting to an outbreak of contamination in the nation's food supply, the Senate voted Tuesday to overhaul food safety laws, giving more power to the Food and Drug Administration and putting more responsibility on farmers and processors. One senator said parents will soon have peace of mind when they order children to "eat their spinach."

The legislation passed by 73-25, gaining bipartisan support in the deeply divided Senate for the biggest revamping of inspection and oversight laws since the 1930s. A string of cases involving peanuts, eggs and spinach -- sickening thousands and killing more than a dozen -- got the attention of lawmakers. The U.S. House must still accept the Senate amendments before the measure can be forwarded to President Obama,

The president urged the House to "act quickly on this critical bill." Obama said it would mean "more frequent inspections of food manufacturing facilities" and would require "preventative actions to reduce the risk of outbreaks and food-borne illness."

The legislation was not without opposition, as the Washington Post reported. Some tea party activists called it government overreach, corporate growers protested an amendment exempting small farmers from some of the new standards, and conservative talk show host Glenn Beck suggested it was a government trick to raise meat prices and convert the public to vegetarianism.

Significantly, the bill gives the FDA the authority to recall food -- a step that under current law must be taken voluntarily by food companies. It also, for the first time, requires food importers to verify that products grown and processed overseas meet U.S. standards. The FDA is only equipped to inspect about 1 percent of imported foods, the Post said.

The divide between corporate growers and family farmers stemmed from an amendment added by Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), himself a farmer. Tester got an exception for small farmers -- who sell directly to consumers at stands and farmers markets -- from the legislation's mandate that increases growers' responsibility for contamination prevention.

Food-borne illnesses affect one in four Americans and kill as many as 5,000 annually, according to government statistics cited by the Post.

"This legislation means that parents who tell their kids to eat their spinach can be assured that it won't make them sick," said Sen. Tom Harkin, (D-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee.