Background of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act

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Background of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act

In the Summer of 2012, more than a half billion eggs were recalled in the United States. These salmonella contaminated eggs were responsible for sickening more than 1,000 people across the country (Jalonick, 2010). This outbreak served as a “wake-up call” for the need to empower the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to carry out stricter regulations on the food and drug industry. Due to the outbreak and need for stricter regulations, The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) (S. 510 & H.R. 2751) was proposed and signed into law by President Obama on January 4th 2011.

The Food Safety Modernization Act strives to make sure that the U.S. food supply is safe by redirecting the efforts of federal regulators from responding to contamination, to preventing it. There are four main elements of the Act. The first element provides new FDA controls over imported foods and six hundred foreign facility inspections (Levitt, 2011). The amount of inspections is proposed to double every year for five years. Under the Food Safety Modernization Act, new fees will be issued to food companies. Food companies will be required to have export certificates. Other fees will be associated with importation of foods (Levitt, 2011). However, the new act will allow for a fast lane for imports for those companies that subject themselves to more intense inspection and participate in the qualified importer program. Overall, the act will provide the FDA with more enforcement powers (Levitt, 2011). Power will come in the form of increased inspections of both domestic and foreign facilities and mandatory recalls if the FDA suspects a food, drug, or beverage may be tainted. Lastly, under the new act, ...

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...more than half a billion nationwide. Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/21/egg-recall-expands-to-mor_n_690019.html

(7)Layton, L. (2010, December 19). Food-safety measure passes senate in sunday surprise. Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/19/AR2010121904032.html

(8)Layton, L. (2009, July 31). House approves food-safety bill; law would expand fda's power. Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/30/AR2009073003271.html?hpid=topnews

(9)Levitt, J. (2011, March 21). Fda food safety modernization act. . Retrieved from http://www.sfa.org/public_documents/Food_Safety_Presentation.pdf

(10)Shiner, M. (2010, December 12). Senate oks food safety measure. Politico. Retrieved from http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1210/46598.html

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