WASHINGTON—A new bill introduced May 27 by Reps. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) and John D. Dingell (D-Mich.) would give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded enforcement tools, including the authority to recall tainted food, quarantine suspect food, and impose civil penalties and increased criminal sanctions on violators, reported the Washington Post.
As reported, the bill would put greater responsibility on growers, manufacturers and food handlers by requiring them to identify contamination risks, document steps they take to prevent them and provide those records to federal regulators. The legislation also would allow the FDA to require private laboratories used by food manufacturers to report the detection of pathogens in food products directly to the government.
The
Grocery Manufacturers Association, which supports much of the legislation, objects to a $1,000 annual registration fee that would be required of all food facilities to help pay for the FDA's increased oversight, the Post reported.