U.S. House Provides FDA With Expanded Food Safety Mandate
8/3/2009

Summary:

Stoel Rives attorney Ken Odza discussed in Law360 the recent passage of The Food Safety Enhancement Act by the U.S. House of Representatives. Under the bill, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would acquire broad new food safety powers, with authority to issue mandatory recalls, implement a risk-based inspection agenda, access and track information about food as it travels through the supply chain, and detain or block any food suspected of taint.

Odza called the food traceability concept incorporated in the bill "the Holy Grail of food safety." Giving the FDA direct access to producers' records would help them monitor and react quickly in recalls, he said. Odza cautioned that excluding small producers could still leave a "big hole in the net" of public health safety, as consumers increasingly seek out organic or direct-from-farm produce.

• Read the Law360 article
• Ken Odza blogs about the Food Safety Enhancement Act

"Food Safety Bill May Put Too Much On FDA's Plate" was published by Law360, July 31 2009.