Tag: S. 510

According to the Christian Science Monitor, 5 food scares rattled  America and the Food and Drug Administration.  Here are the 5 most highly profiled food scares:

eggs (August 2010), peanuts (December 2009), Spinach (August 2007), lettuce (October 2006), and beef (February 2008)

The one piece of legislation that seems to have bipartisan support has hit a snafu reported by foodsafetynews.com :

 

A serious constitutional snafu is threatening to derail pending food safety legislation, which passed the Senate by a 3-1 margin early Tuesday.

The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, S. 510, would be the most significant update of food safety laws in over seven decades, but it has become clear that the Senate made a potentially critical error by including a provision that would allow the FDA to impose fees on importers, and on companies whose food is recalled because of contamination.

Article 1, Section 7 of the U.S. Constitution says all revenue-raising measures must originate in the House. This error will almost certainly mean that the legislation will have to be reconsidered in the Senate, a major setback considering the precious floor time it could take to jump though the necessary procedural hoops: namely circumventing Sen. Tom Coburn’s (R-OK) filibuster threat.

The way forward for the beleaguered legislation–which seemed to catch a big break with its 73-25 passage in the Senate this week–remains highly uncertain.

Hopefully the kinks can be ironed out of this legislation and S. 510 can move forward.