Democrats Propose Legislation to Consolidate Food Safety into Single Agency

Credit: Architect of the Capitol(WASHINGTON) — A pair of Democrats in Congress proposed legislation on Wednesday that would consolidate 15 different agencies currently in charge of food safety oversight into one independent food safety agency.

“The fragmented nature of our food safety system has left us more vulnerable to the risk of foodborne illness,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said in a statement. The proposed legislation “would transfer and consolidate food safety authorities for inspections, enforcement, labeling and research into a single food safety agency.” The two Democrats also note that a single food safety agency could “allow us to prioritize system-wide food safety goals and targets.”

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., added that the fact that the food safety system is “hopelessly fragmented and outdated” means that “lives are unnecessarily put at risk.”

Co-sponsors for the bill include Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.

The proposal would additionally provide authority to require the recall of unsafe food, require risk assessments and preventive control plans to minimize adulteration of food products, strengthen contaminant performance standards, improve the inspection of foreign food and require full traceability to identify the sources of outbreaks.

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