SENATORS HOLD FOOD SAFETY HEARING AND OFFER LEGISLATION
News Date December 11, 2007
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee held a hearing on December 4 to review the nation's food safety system. The hearing coincided with a number of new food safety initiatives, reports, and legislation.
During the hearing, Chairman Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) highlighted a scathing report from the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Science Advisory Board which said the agency does not have the resources and capability to fulfill its food safety mission. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt testified that the current system is not adequate to meet future needs, and that a substantial increase in the agency's budget is needed to implement their recently announced food safety plan (see November 14 NASDA News story). Kennedy and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) later released a letter signed by twenty-three lawmakers urging the administration to support additional food safety funding.
In addition, Sens. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) introduced legislation on December 5 which addresses several areas to protect the food and agriculture supply. The EAT SAFE Act would authorize more than $25 million for FDA and USDA to hire additional personnel for import inspection, testing, and food defense monitoring.