Bill Would Boost FDA Powers, Increase Food Inspections

Legislation unveiled in the House of Representatives this week would increase Food and Drug Administration powers and the frequency of safety inspections, but would require industry to cover the cost.

The bill — proposed by Democrats on the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee — would require food companies to be inspected at least once every four years, and drug companies at least every two, but would require manufacturers to pay fees to the FDA.

The proposed legislation comes at a time when several food industry organizations have been calling for increased powers for the FDA, which currently only has the power to request companies to implement voluntary recalls. The FDA also provides advice to manufacturers who initiate their own voluntary recall procedures.

While it welcomed the move on the whole, a spokesperson for the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) told FoodNavigator-USA.com: “We believe that food safety is a right that all Americans have — like defense and infrastructure — and that it should be paid for by Congress appropriating general funds.”

The GMA was one of ten organizations representing the food industry that signed letters to both the House of Representatives and the Senate last week urging reform of the FDA in order to better guarantee food safety, but its support for granting the FDA additional powers goes back further.

“This is something we have been calling for, for at least a year,” said the spokesperson.

He rejected, however, the idea that granting the FDA additional powers would speed up the process of administering product recalls.

“No company has any incentive at all to knowingly provide contaminated products to its clients,” he said. “Food safety and consumer confidence is priority number one, so it is in a company’s best interests to withdraw a product immediately.”

Signatories to the letters included the Grocery Manufacturers Association, the American Frozen Food Institute, the Retail Industry Leaders Association and the Food Marketing Institute, among others.

Source: FoodNavigator-USA.com