DeLauro Celebrates Final Passage of Landmark Food Safety Legislation

Washington, DC— Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-3), Chairwoman of the FDA and Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, released the following statement today celebrating the final passage of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. First introduced by Congresswoman DeLauro in 2008, this legislation will modernize and strengthen our current food safety system.

"I am delighted that the House has passed the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act for the final time. The bill represents a critical step forward in addressing the problems in our current food safety system and ultimately reducing the number of food-borne illnesses in our country. It strengthens FDA's authority by increasing inspections of high-risk facilities, expanding FDA's authority to access recall records, and improving food-borne illness surveillance. All of these tools will help improve FDA's ability to respond to food-borne illness outbreaks and to hold industrial food production facilities to higher standards.

"But further action on this issue is needed, and I will continue to fight for stronger reforms and ultimately a single food safety agency. Consolidating the fifteen agencies that currently have jurisdiction over the safety of our nation's food supply would provide the regulatory structure so desperately needed to prevent food-borne illnesses and respond better to outbreaks. I have introduced legislation to create such an agency, and look forward to working on this issue again in the next Congress."