House passes food control bill; now awaiting Obama signature

As expected, Congress has now fully passed the Food Safety Modernization Act and it awaits President Obama’s signature, which is fully expected.

Teena Clipston at Suite 101 submits this report:

The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act was passed by the House of Representatives on December 21, disappointing millions of Americans.The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act was passed by Senate during a late Sunday night session, and then approved on December 21 by the House of Representatives.

The bill was passed in the House with a 215-144 vote, and now will make its way to President Obama where it is expected to be signed into law.

The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, S510, was first passed on November 30 by a vote of 73-25, but was later recalled because of a critical error. A process known as “blue slipping” was used to send the bill back to the Senate.

Opposition to the controversial bill was thrilled to have it sent back to the Senate, giving them another chance to voice their fears, and try to kill the bill.

However, the Bill was unexpectedly sneaked into a Sunday night Senate session, catching aides and lobbyist by surprise.

The Senate approved the bill by unanimous consent, sending it to the House.

Inserting an amended text of S510 into H.R.2751 (now calling bill S510 HR2751).

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, “Tonight we unanimously passed a measure to improve on our current food safety system by giving the FDA the resources it needs to keep up with advances in food production and marketing, without unduly burdening farmers and food producers.”

The U.S. Center for Disease Control states that about 48 million Americans are sickened by food-borne illnesses each year, 3000 of which die.

“Americans expect our food to be safe. We’ve been shocked over the past few years by a series of large outbreaks of food borne illness caused by common food products such as spinach, green onions, peppers, peanut butter, cookie dough and eggs. The Senate’s action moves the country toward a new food safety law designed to meet the challenges inherent in a modern, global food system,” said Chris Waldrop, director of the Consumer Federation of America’s Food Policy Institute.

Even though, the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act was created with the intent to prevent food-borne illnesses, the bill was opposed by millions of people, and was considered to be the Patriot Act of Farming.

The opposition believes that the controversial Bill will may make it illegal to grow, share or trade home-grown food. It may also force small farmers and food processors into burdensome and excessive requirements. It may give large corporations such as Monsanto control over US seed, and put US food and farms under the Department of Homeland Security.

Unfortunately, many people will be deeply saddened by the approval.