US Passes Sweeping Food Safety Law
New legislation makes exceptions for small producers
22 December 2010
Rather than waiting for an outbreak before it can order a recall, the Food and Drug Administration will now require producers to reduce contamination risks before food goes to market.
When she was nine years old, Rylee ate spinach contaminated with E. coli bacteria. She was one of the worst affected of at least 200 people in 26 states who got sick in that 2006 outbreak.
She says it started with cramps and diarrhea, but got much worse. "Blood just started coming out and it was just really gruesome and very terrifying because I didn't know what was happening to me."
Rylee got so sick her kidneys shut down and she may eventually need a transplant.
More recently, outbreaks linked to eggs, peanut butter and other foods affecting hundreds of people in multiple states have also drawn a great deal of attention.
Making changes
The new law aims to prevent those outbreaks.
"You've got a real shift here, a paradigm shift in how the government ensures that the food supply is safer," says Sandra Eskin, food safety campaign director at the Pew Charitable Trusts.
She says tightened regulation is especially important in today's food production system. While contamination is rare, a little bit can go a long way. "Any initial contamination can be compounded and, again, spread widely if a product is mixed with other non-contaminated products."
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