FACT SHEET: The Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510)
The Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510) which was passed by the United States Congress will give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) a greater ability to safeguard our nation’s food system, including the ability to order mandatory food recalls ensuring that the same companies who sicken the public do not dictate the recall of their products.
The United States once had one of the safest food systems in the world, but now, 70 million Americans are sickened, 300,000 are hospitalized, and 5,000 die from food-borne illness every year. The Food Safety Modernization Act is a much needed first step towards consumer protection however it is not the complete overhaul needed to fix for our country’s broken industrial food system.
Important Provisions of S. 510 (as passed by Congress)
- FOOD RECALL POWER – gives FDA the much needed power to issue mandatory food recalls
- INCREASED SAFETY STANDARDS – raises standards at domestic food facilities by demanding that food companies write plans to manufacture foods safely and conduct routine tests to ensure that the plans are adequate.
- FOOD IMPORTS – gives the FDA more control over food imports, including increased inspection of foreign plants and the ability to set standards for how fruits and vegetables are grown abroad. Nearly a fifth of processing the nation’s food supply and as much as three-quarters of its seafood are imported, but the FDA inspects less than one pound in a million of such imported foods.
- FDA INSPECTIONS – gradually increases the number of inspections the FDA must conduct of food processing plants, with an emphasis on foods that are considered most “high risk”
- PROTECTING SMALL PRODUCERS & PROCESSORS – Incorporated into the final bill are a number of important amendments that seek to support small farmers and processors who sell directly to consumers and end users, including the following amendments introduced by:
- Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) and Kay Hagan (D-NC) to exempt small farmers and processors who sell directly to consumers and end users from FDA’s new regulation (see below for summary of amendment)
- Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) exempting farmers from extensive and expensive traceability and recordkeeping requirements if they sell food directly to consumers or to grocery stores
- Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) providing for a USDA-delivered competitive grants program for food safety training for farmers, small processors and wholesalers, with a priority on small and mid-scale farms.
- Other important amendments incorporated into the bill were introduced by:
- Senator Bennet (D-CO) to reduce unnecessary paperwork and excess regulation required under the preventative control plan and the produce standards sections of the bill, including instructions to FDA to minimize the number of different standards that apply to separate foods, to make requirements scale appropriate, and to prohibit FDA from requiring farms and other food facilities to hire outside consultants to write food safety plans.
- Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) to strip the bill of wildlife-threatening enforcement against “animal encroachment” of farms and require FDA to apply sound science to any requirements that might impact wildlife and wildlife habitat.
- Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) providing FDA authority to either exempt farms engaged in low or no risk processing or co-mingling activities from new regulatory requirements or to modify particular regulatory requirements for such farming operations.
Tester Amendment
- Included in S. 510 is an amendment from Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) and Kay Hagan, which exempts small farmers and processors who sell directly to consumers and end users from FDA’s new regulations. These small farmers and processors must meet all state and local food safety requirements.
- The amendment includes the following requirements for exemption:
1. Producers must have annual gross sales less than $500,000. This includes all subsidiaries and affiliates of a business, so it carefully prevents any larger businesses from using this as a loophole.
2. Producers must sell more than half their products directly to consumers (including at farmers markets) or to local restaurants and retailers that in turn sell directly to consumers. The definition of “qualified end user” ensures that the producer is not selling into national chains or into long supply chains. Regardless of the radius of the distance, the test requires direct sales that enable consumers to hold producers accountable for any problems.
3. FDA has authority to withdraw an exemption from a farm or facility associated with a foodborne illness outbreak.
4. The distance from a facility or farm that is eligible to be a “qualified end-user” was reduced to 275 miles.
Criticisms
- DOES NOT COVER USDA AUTHORITY – Perhaps most noticeable is that this bill only applies to the scope of FDA’s food safety authority. Bowing to pressure from agribusiness, lawmakers exempted livestock producers, processors, slaughterhouses or most meat and poultry products regulated by the USDA.
- NO SINGLE FOOD AGENCY – It is long overdue that we establish a separate and effective government agency dedicated to food safety. We need to separate out the ‘Food’ part of the Food and Drug Administration and consolidate all authority under a new Food Safety Agency.
- NO INCREASED PENALTIES – The bill does not increase FDA penalties against producers who knowingly ship tainted food to consumers.
- WEAK TIMEFRAME – Companies have as long as 18 months to put in place food safety plans. Additionally regulators are given up to five years to visit high-risk facilities, after that the high risk facilities must be inspected every three years.
Dispelling the Rumors
- MYTH: Outlawing Backyard Gardening & Seed Saving
There is no language in the bill that would regulate, penalize, or shut down backyard gardens or impinge on seed saving. This bill is focused on ensuring the safety of foods sold in supermarkets.
- MYTH: Death to Farmers Markets
There is no language in the bill that would result in farmers markets being regulated, penalized any fines, or shut down. Farmers markets would be able to continue to flourish under the bill as a result of numerous amendments that support small farmers and producers that sell directly to consumers.
- MYTH: The End of Organic
There is no language in the bill that would stop organic farming. The National Organic Program (NOP) is under the jurisdiction of the USDA, S. 510 only pertains to FDA’s jurisdiction.
- MYTH: Onerous Animal ID Tracking
There is no language in the bill that would implement a national animal ID system. Animal identification issues are under the jurisdiction of the USDA.
- MYTH: Burdensome Regulations for Food Supplements
While S. 510 does allow FDA to issue recalls for tainted food supplements, the bill does not place onerous new regulations on the food supplement industry.
