Site Map - Food Safety

10/21/2011 - A team of engineering graduate students at Yale is working to create a new technology that could help prevent widespread food-borne illness and lead to quicker diagnosis of bacterial infections.

10/19/2011 - The Food Safety Modernization Act is the first overhaul of the nation’s food safety system in more than 70 years. Nowhere is the legislation more ambitious than in provisions regarding the safety of imported food.

06/30/2011 - A bill (S. 216) introduced by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) that would enhance penalties for contaminating food supplies has been approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee and will now go before a vote in the full Senate.The bill would make the crime of intentionally adulterating or misbranding food, drugs, tobacco products, or cosmetics a felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Those who knowingly introduce such products into the food supply would face the same penalty. In his introductory remarks, Leahy noted that such activities are already illegal but they are misdemeanors and rarely result in jail time. He also noted that fines and recalls have become so frequent that they are considered “merely the cost of doing business.”  

04/07/2011 - U.S. Agriculture Department proposes rule to reduce meat recalls and avoid illness from contaminated meat. Energy sector survey finds IT security still not a priority, and the U.S. Navy hopes robots can be doctors.

12/21/2010 - A food safety bill (H.R. 2751) has been approved by both the House of Representatives and the Senate. President Obama has announced that he will sign the bill.

12/20/2010 - A food safety bill (S. 510) received new life last night when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) overcame procedural objections to the bill by adding it as an amendment to another provision (H.R. 2751). The Senate then approved the measure. Now, H.R. 2751 will go back to the House of Representatives for a vote. The bill has bipartisan support in the House and is expected to pass as early as tomorrow. President Obama has announced that he will sign the bill.

11/30/2010 - If enacted, the bill would increase inspections and empower the government to require food recalls, rather than simply recommending them. The House is expected to vote on the measure before the end of the year.

11/24/2010 - 42 Number of FDA inspectors posted overseas since 2008 to screen manufacturers of U.S. food imports.

04/29/2010 - A team of researchers at Kingston University in London is mining existing food inspection data to analyze trends in food safety. They are focusing now on the European Union but hope to upgrade the system to analyze data from around the world in real time to warn of incidents on a weekly basis. See the tracking data for yourself online.

04/27/2010 - A food monitoring system developed by researchers at London's Kingston University found that seafood is the main source of mercury contamination in Europe.

11/24/2009 - A bill (H.R. 2749) that would give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) greater regulatory powers over the U.S. food supply has been approved by the House of Representatives. The bill is now pending in the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.

07/31/2009 - A series of bills aimed at improving food safety are currently pending in Congress. Two bills (H.R. 875 and H.R. 1332) have been introduced by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA), respectively, are under consideration in the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

08/28/2008 - The food sector group charged with sharing intelligence has disbanded, and the federal government is pushing its own food-sector information-sharing Web portal.