US passes food safety bill; excludes antibiotics

The US House of Representatives has passed the food safety bill without including new rules for the use of antibiotics in livestock.

The Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 would give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the framework for a risk-based inspection system and move the agency toward a preventive approach to food safety regulation. The bill would give the FDA new authorities to address food-borne-illness outbreaks and regulate processors' record keeping in hopes of more easily identifying these outbreaks.

The regulation that would ban from use in livestock and poultry animal health products that are used to prevent and control diseases is not included, a move lauded by the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC).

The NPPC is pleased that the bill passed addresses on-farm concerns, and the bill moves pork producers in the right direction in strengthening the US food safety system, though work remains, according to NPPC president Don Butler.