Both houses of Congress have passed the new food safety bill, and the legislation is awaiting President Obama's signature. The new law is the first major overhaul of the nation's food safety protections since 1938, and is a long time in coming given that, according to the latest statistics, 48 million Americans are sickened by bad food every year, while another 128,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 are killed.
Among other things, the bill directs the FDA to conduct more frequent inspections and to establish science-based standards for the safe production of fruits and vegetables, and authorizes the FDA to trigger a mandatory recall of unsafe foods if a business fails to do so voluntarily.
Grocery stores and other food sellers must notify consumers if they have sold food that has been recalled.
Food facilities must have a written preventive controls plan that spells out the possible problems that could affect the safety of their products.
Read more on the FDA website.
