iowa underground blog

The Washington Post reports today on a bill set to pass the House (with 226 co-sponsors) that would take away the abilty of states to pass legislation effecting food safety.

A bill poised to pass the House tomorrow would impose uniform safety warnings and labeling rules on food and beverages nationwide—a significant change from current practices that the food industry argues will help consumers but many state agriculture and health officials fear will significantly reduce their ability to protect the public.

The bill, which has 226 co-sponsors in the House, would amend the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to supersede existing state legislation and practices on food-warning labels. It would also require states to petition the Food and Drug Administration to restore laws and regulations they currently have.

Some of the state laws that could be affected cover farm and food plant inspections, whereas others involve rules on shellfish, dairy products, allowable levels of arsenic and other contaminants in bottled water, lead in food and serving dishes, and whether salmon has to be labeled as wild or farmed. Numerous states have food-safety laws that are considerably tougher than federal standards.
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The legislation has never been aired in a public hearing. But with a majority of members as co-sponsors, supporters said they expect the bill will pass tomorrow.

If we ever needed proof that the GOP-run House is a rubber stamp for lobbying firms, this is it. Similar to local control issues in Iowa, this ruling will centralize food safety regulation in a centralized – and diluted – manner.

• Sousy

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 2nd, 2006 at 7:21 am and is filed under Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.