Congress Poised to Pass Ambitious Food-Safety Bill The bill
would give the FDA broad new powers to force recalls of tainted
foods, regulate imported foods and ingredients, and conduct more
frequent inspections of food-production facilities. In a world
where we get garlic from China, shellfish from Thailand and
sugar cane from Mexico, Congress is poised to approve an
ambitious food safety bill that would strengthen the nation's
top regulator and impose new rules on domestic production and
trading partners. The legislation is aimed at preventing tainted
food from entering the supply chain, sickening Americans and
forcing massive recalls. It would give the Food and Drug
Administration sweeping new powers to demand recalls and require
importers to certify the safety of what they're bringing into
this country. By allowing regulators, for instance, to react
more quickly to reports of illness, the legislation could limit
or prevent recalls like those of spinach and peanuts in recent
years, supporters said. The House