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Food Safety Modernization Act Of 2010
Food Safety Modernization Act Of 2010
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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
The year 1906 brought about a new era in governmental legislation that helped to shape the way privately owned producers of consumable goods would conduct themselves in the future. President Theodore Roosevelt, a man known for his tenaciousness when tackling the issues of the people, pursued these legislative changes, refusing to back down to the lobbyists who stood in his way. One such industry brought to its knees was the meat packing industry, a thriving group of companies that supplied not only the United States but also the markets in Europe with processed foods.
Nestle, Marion. Safe Food: Bacteria, Biotechnology, and Bioterrorism. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2003.
In 1906, the Pure Food and Drug Act, that was years in the making was finally passed under President Roosevelt. This law reflected a sea change in medicine-- an unprecedented wave of regulations. No longer could drug companies have a secret formula and hide potentially toxic substances such as heroin under their patent. The law required drug companies to specify the ingredients of medications on the label. It also regulated the purity and dosage of substances. Not by mere coincidence was the law passed only about five years after Bayer, a German based drug company began selling the morphine derivative, heroin. Thought to be a safe, non-habit forming alternative to morphine, heroin quickly became the “cure-all drug” that was used to treat anything from coughs to restlessness. Yet, just as quickly as it became a household staple, many began to question the innocence of the substance. While the 1906 law had inherent weaknesses, it signaled the beginning of the end for “cure-all” drugs, such as opiate-filled “soothing syrups” that were used for infants. By tracing and evaluating various reports by doctors and investigative journalists on the medical use of heroin, it is clear that the desire for this legislative measure developed from an offshoot in the medical community-- a transformation that took doctors out from behind the curtain, and brought the public into a new era of awareness.
"Pure Food and Drug Act: A Muckraking Triumph." Food and Drug Act. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Feb. 2014.
The act of manufactures labeling of our foods products in terms of the ingredients a particular product contains and the nutritious facts is sometimes taken for granted, we often see the labels on our food products, but ignore them because we’re so used to seeing them in our daily lives. Surprisingly, food product labeling, specifically that pertaining to allergen warnings, were not always available to consumers until a government mandate in 2004 (FALCPA). I think part of the reason for such a lateness in regulation was due to a social stigma regarding allergies, that having them was some sort of natural selection and not an issue that should be taken care of. Another surprising notion I came across was that although there was no government regulation, manufactures of food products took a good amount of initiative in letting their consumers know of potential allergens in their products.
Meatpacking has become the most dangerous job in America. Unlike poultry plants, in which almost all tasks are performed by machines, most of the work in a slaughterhouse is done by hand. Hazards of the job include injuries from the various machines and knives, strain to the body from poor working conditions, and even methamphetamine use in order to keep up with the production line. Women face the added threat of sexual harassment. This chapter opens with an anecdote about the largest recall of food in the nation’s history. In 1997 approximately 35 million pounds of ground beef was recalled by Hudson Foods because a strain of E Coli was found in the food. However, by the time the beef was recalled, 25 million pounds had already been eaten. Schlosser notes that the nature of food poisoning is changing. Prior to the rise of large meatpacking plants, people would become ill from bad food in small, localized arenas. Now, because meat is distributed all over the nation, an outbreak of food poisoning in one town may indicate nation-wide epidemic. Every day in the United States, 200, 000 people are sickened by a food borne
Tirrel, Meg. "FDA Delays Food Safety Regulations." Claim Journal. N.p., 20 Dec 2013. Web. 23 Jan 2014.
Salmonella is one danger that has caused many effects to consumers. Walsh writes about one incident when an outbreak “from tainted peanuts that killed at least eight people and sickened 600,” (Walsh 167). This incident left many people asking the same question, how can we trust the food that we put into our bodies? Salmonella, a type of food poisoning caused by bacteria found on different food types has caused an epidemic because of its domino effect on food and our health. Once one factory is contaminated, that factory could be housing both crops and meat, which is then transferred to our supermarkets and on our dinner tables. ...
The Federal Drug and Food Administration, or FDA, began in 1906 as part of the Pure Food and Drug Act. The 1906 Act was passed due to a culmination of bills passed that were focused on severe abuses in the consumer market. Laws and guidelines were created by the FDA to monitor food safety. Product manufacturing facilities are inspected to show they are in compliance with these laws and guidelines. The FDA does not, however, test to see if food is safe for human consumption. The manufacturers are responsible for testing food, and then give their results to the FDA for inspection. Unfortunately testing done on food today does not show us the long term effect of new additives and chemical compound. It may take several years for a new chemical or additive to cause side effects...
Kelleher, Jennifer S. "USDA may regulate all food sold in schools." Newsday.com. Newsday, 7 July 2009. Web. 5 Nov. 2009. .
Pomeranz, Jennifer L. "A Comprehensive Strategy To Overhaul FDA Authority For Misleading Food Labels." American Journal Of Law & Medicine 39.4 (2013): 617-647. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Apr. 2014.
The FDA most definitely has the important task to assure U.S. citizens the availability of safe food and drugs. This importance was realized by the men that worked toward moving it into legislation. The resultant agency continued to enforce its policies consistently into the modern century without a loss of momentum. However if the FDA is impaired by means of a governmental shutdown then it is of great importance to continue the consistency in food and drug standards that it holds. Standards that hold great importance today like the standards of the FDA’s initiation.
At this point, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has started increasing regulations for prepared foods, however, only a few years ago they had some vague laws concerning these foods and companies could get away a lot more than they can now. One of the reasons for this was that the FDA was more concerned about the certain effects store bought food had on people and were less concerned about misleading labels on packaging. However, they seem to have become more aware of the fact that a lot of companies are tricking consumers into believing that their product is the best, and the FDA has started to regulate companies that have misleading advertisements.
The third weakness is the fact that food tests, inspections, and the detection of contaminants are taken seriously only after an outbreak of some food-borne diseases, food poisoning, or deaths. The increase in the number of food establishments or outlets such as cold stores, hypermarkets, and supermarkets reported by the Public Health Director has also made inspection and control mo...
Food safety is an increasingly important public health issue. Governments all over the world are intensifying their efforts to improve food safety. Food borne illnesses are diseases, usually either infectious or toxic in nature, caused by agents that enter the body through the ingestion of food. “In industrialized countries, the percentage of people suffering from food borne diseases each year has been reported to be up to 30%. In the United States of America, for example, around 76 million cases of food borne diseases, resulting in 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths, are estimated to occur each year.” (Geneva 2)