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Senate takes up food safety legislation

The U.S. House of Representatives passed its version of a food safety bill more than a year ago, and the U.S. Senate was scheduled to start debate on this issue on Monday, Nov. 29.

The Senate is expected to begin a series of votes on the Food and Drug Administration’s Food Safety Modernization Act – S510 – seeking to reform the current food-safety system in the United States.

Joe Rajkovacz, OOIDA director of regulatory affairs, said that if this bill passes it would give the FDA mandatory recall powers, which he says are “clearly needed” in the food industry.

“This would give the FDA the power to require companies to pull products off the shelves earlier rather than later, which could save a lot of people from being sickened if their products are contaminated,” he said. “Under the current system, many companies know there’s a problem, but wait to get their financial ducks in a row first, then alert consumers that there’s an issue. In the meantime, more consumers can become ill.”

Rajkovacz said that while the Association has been calling for the FDA to have mandatory recall authority, instead of a voluntary system that’s in place now, it’s still unknown how this would affect small-business truckers.

“If this bill passes, then the details of how this is implemented become the big question for truckers who haul these products,” Rajkovacz said.

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