Senate Passes Overhaul of Food Safety Regulations

The Senate passed a sweeping overhaul of the nation's food-safety system on Tuesday that would give the Food and Drug Administration new powers to order recalls of tainted foods, increase inspections, oversee farming and demand accountability from food companies. The vote was 73-25 in favor.

The bill attracted support from major food makers as well as consumer advocates after a series of problems with tainted eggs, peanut butter and spinach sickened thousands of people.

Despite unusual bipartisan support on Capitol Hill and a strong push from the Obama administration, though, the bill could still die, because there might not be enough time left in the session for the usual haggling between the Senate and House of Representatives, which passed its own version of the bill last year. Top House Democrats have said that they would consider simply passing the Senate version to speed approval.

Read the full story at New York Times.