President Obama today (Jan. 4) signed the FDA Food Safety and Modernization Action into law.
According to Roger Johnson, president of the National Farmers Union, the legislation will help to ensure that our food system is safe and can adapt to challenges of a rapidly changing marketplace.
He said the law prioritizes inspections and focuses resources on the high-risk products and facilities.
 “This is a historic bill; the first one in more than 70 years to significantly expand the ability of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to inspect the nation’s food supply,” Johnson said. 
He said this new authority will allow the agency to be more proactive in heading off potential problems.
“For many years, because of its limited resources and authority, the FDA has been a reactive agency, taking action only after something had become a major issue,” Johnson said.
The big fight ahead will be if Congress is willing to fund the new legislation. If it is underfunded, its effectiveness is weaken.
This is important legislation, especially in light of the industrialization and globalization of the food industry over the last 70 years. Much more of our food is imported into the United States from countries where food production practices may not be on the same level as the U.S.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau,  U.S. food imports have grown rapidly in the last decade, especially for consumer-ready foods, such as fruit, vegetables, meats, seafood, and processed food products.
The U.S. Census Bureau said that, “Although the United States imported most bulk food commodities and perishable consumer-ready products, such as fruit and vegetables, from neighboring countries in the Western Hemisphere, it imported processed foods, spices, and other tropical products from more global sources, with rising import shares for many countries in Asia.”
More free trade agreements the U.S. signs with other nations, the U.S. will continue to import more food from those countries. That will mean greater vigilance on the part of the U.S. government to make sure these imports are safe for consumers.
 
 
 
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