Sen. Durbin calls for passage of new FDA food safety bill

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin is urging his colleagues to pass the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act quickly when it comes up for a vote in days to protect consumers from unnecessary food poisoning.

The bill would bring sweeping changes to the food safety industry. Durbin stood by some of the thousands of victims of food-borne illnesses outside a grocery store in his home state on Sunday to demand Senators pass the bill.

Tens of thousands of Americans have fallen victim to food-borne illnesses in recent years. Many of them are the result of a just a few food products and all could have been avoided if food manufacturers were held more accountable for their safety protocol.

Tainted peanut butter, spinach and peppers have sickened tens of thousands alone, and have been blamed in more than 100 deaths in just the last two years. In each case, the manufacturer of those products kept filthy conditions at their distribution or processing plants, the staple of nearly every food-borne bacterial outbreak.

Late last year, the House passed a bill that would give the Food and Drug Administration new powers to enact food recalls sooner to protect consumers, and the power to bring heavier fines and the power to close facilities it finds to be in constant ignorance of safety laws.

A Senate Committee has already approved much of the bill. The legislation would act to fund new food inspector positions, too.

Last week we reported on the many vacancies among food inspectors at the FDA. Some food manufacturers go five years or more before ever seeing an FDA inspector.