SupplySide

Take Out with Bob Weeks

Bob Weeks began his publishing career in the early 1970's and served in several different capacities with Bill Communications and Freed Crown Lee Publishing before becoming Publisher of Dairy Foods and Prepared Foods magazines at Gorman Publishing. In 1991 he set out on his own, establishing Weeks Publishing Company with the successful launch of Food Product Design Magazine which subsequently became and remains today the preeminent food development and R&D focused publication/information source. Bob continued as Publisher of Food Product Design as well as Culinology magazine after being acquired by Phoenix-based Virgo Publishing LLC. in 2005. His 23 years in food publishing have established Bob as one of the foremost thought leaders in the food industry.

Food Safety Enhancement Act Passes the House

July 31, 2009 Comments

Posted in Blog, Topics, Food Safety, Regulatory

Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed its far-reaching legislation aimed at overhauling food safety from the farm to the dinner table. The 159-page document has been altered significantly from its first draft, mostly for the better, but there are still some troublesome elements.

Hopefully, the U.S. Senate, which is currently working on its own version, will offer more moderate proposals in several areas, and hopefully, they will be sustained when both versions are negotiated in House/Senate conference. It does seem it will require some extended debate.

As for who will pay for a new regimen of inspections, registrations, required safety plans, reporting, sourcing and tracking records, and monitoring, the answer is a $500 per facility annual fee for food manufacturers. This will generate an estimated $1.5 billion over five years, combined with an estimated (note the term "estimated") $2 billion provided by Congress.

Hopefully, the Senate will modify the amount.

Perhaps the most disturbing element of the House bill is the onerous level of fines and penalties that can be leveled against food growers and processors, not for truly serious food safety events, but for record-keeping violations. Right now the number is pegged at $20,000 per day!

Keep your eyes on the Senate, and keep your fingers crossed.