Food Safety Modernization Act (S 510)

The Lame-Duck Congress is Acting at Break-Neck Speed on Several Bills But Not on Taxes and the Current Fiscal Year Appropriations Bill

On Nov 18, 2010, the Senate approved a motion to proceed on the consideration of the Food Safety Modernization Act. Senator Burr voted against it and Senator Hagan voted for it. The Senate may vote today, Nov 19, 2010, on this legislation a version of which passed in the House on July 30, 2009. Although Senator Burr is a co-sponsor of the bill, according to a staffer in his office Senator Burr did not support the legislation in its original form. Senator Burr believes as a co-sponsor he can help direct and shape the final product because he wants to protect small farmers and small businesses. On the surface, the food safety bill may sound as if it is consumer friendly, protecting us from disease such as salmonella, E. coli etc. However, opponents such as the editor of Natural News has called the bill "the most dangerous bill in the history of the United States of America."

It grants the government new power of the "public's right to grow, trade and transport any foods." The new regulations require detailed records and a $500 annual fee for any farmer producing food items, including those selling to restaurants and Farmer's Markets.


Senators Tester (D-MT) and Hagan (D-NC) have crafted an amendment to the food safety bill that they say will protect small farmers from federal regulations. Under the amendment, "small producers will continue to be regulated at the state and local level." The amendment applies to "small producers who sell most of their food directly to consumers, local restaurants and retailers within a 275 mile radius," and that earn $500,000 or less annually, according to Senator Hagan's website. (The Wall Street Journal is reporting 400 miles as opposed to 275 miles for producers selling food products.)

The bill gives the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) more power to regulate food producers, giving them recall authority and massively increasing regulations and fees etc. (Remember when the FDA recalled tomatoes citing a NC producer when it was actually a Mexican producer?)

The National Independent Consumers and Farmers Association has stated: "S-510 will have the unintended destructive consequence of eliminating small farms and consumer access to local food. The main threats to food safety--by the government's own admission--are centralzed production, centralized processing and long distance transportation. The food safety bill will increase these risk factors by further consolidating agriculture into fewer, larger industrial farms through enormous regulatory burdens that small farms cannot endure. Small farms and farmers markets are an important economic engine, environmental safeguard and national security asset."

The National Coalition of Sustainable Agriculture supports the bill with the Tester-Hagan amendment and the Managers Amendment that "provides for a USDA-delivered competitive grants program for food safety training for farmers, small processors and wholesalers , provides more flexibility to minimize the burden of compliance with regulations, minimizes the number of standards, provides exemptions for low/no risk farms, removes certain wildlife-threatening enforcement, and reduces record keeping/traceability requirements for small farms." They do not support the House version.

Total cost of the bill starts at $3.4 billion (not including implementation costs), according to the Congressional Budget Office.

If the legislation passes in the Senate it will require House approval since the House bill, sponsored by Rep. Waxman (D-CA), was a different version of the bill.

If you are passionate about this bill:  Call Senators and Representatives and ask them to vote "No" on the "Food Safety Modernization Act."

Senator Burr (202) 224-3154; Senator Hagan (202) 224-6342
Representatives: G.K. Butterfield (D- 1st) (202) 225-3101; Bob Etheridge (D-2nd) (202) 225-4531;
Walter B. Jones, Jr. (R-3rd)(202) 225-3415: David E. Price (D-4th)(202) 225-1784
Virginia Foxx (R-5th)(202) 225-2071; Howard Coble (R-6th)(202) 225-3065;
Mike McIntyre (D-7th)(202) 225-2731; Larry Kissell (D-8th)(202) 225-3715;
Sue Myrick (R-9th)(202) 225-1976; Patrick T. McHenry (R-10th)(202) 225-2576
Health Shuler (D-11th)(202) 225-6401; Melvin L. Watt (D-12th)(202) 225-1510;
Brad Miller (D-13th)(202) 225-3032.