Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009

FOOD SAFETY ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2009 -- (House of Representatives - July 29, 2009)

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Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, many of us have been talking about comprehensive food safety for years. Our Nation's business community is calling for it. Our constituents are begging for it. I am so pleased that today, at long last, we are considering this bill on the House floor on a bipartisan basis.

The bill before us will strengthen our food supply in a number of areas. It will transform our system into one that focuses on prevention, rather than reaction. It will provide the FDA with the resources it has lacked; and by giving it mandatory recall authority and subpoena authority, it will give the FDA the tools it needs to deal with an emergency.

Mr. Speaker, this bill also will give the FDA the ability to track our food products along the supply chain, enabling targeted and speedier recalls that will benefit business and consumers alike. This traceability provision of the legislation, we know we can't do it overnight, but it will require the FDA to write regulations undertaking a pilot project, cost-benefit analysis, feasibility studies and public meetings to make sure that we can track food from field to fork. This will improve consumer safety and we exempt the family farm.

I urge adoption of this important bill.

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