Sunday Edition: H.R. 7567

• Some 200 USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service employees are being transferred from Washington, DC to locations in Iowa, Georgia and Colorado. A new National Food Safety Center will be established in Urbandale, IA, and it will become the agency’s largest office in the United States. The Consumer Federation of America says the reorganization will likely result in a diluted version of the public services currently provided.
• Two more consumer groups are calling for Congress to reject the FDA Review and Evaluation for Safe, Healthy and Affordable Foods Act, or FRESH Act. The Environmental Working Group and Consumer Reports both voiced opposition to the bill on the grounds that it would weaken regulations governing food chemicals. Currently, companies can choose to submit information on substances that are “generally recognized as safe (GRAS)” and begin using them in food once the FDA issues a “no questions” letter. Such chemicals are not subject to FDA inspection, testing or oversight.
• A report published by the European Food Safety Authority called for continued monitoring of imported food for pesticide residues based on the results of recent sampling. Food arriving in EU member states, Iceland and Norway from other countries registered maximum residue level (MRL) violations and non-compliance rates at a rate three to four times higher than food grown within that zone. On the whole, the risk to consumer health is low because the individual pesticide levels found in food are low.
• Officials in a southwestern Swedish region received more than 300 reports of suspected food poisoning linked to two sushi restaurants. The underlying cause is norovirus, but the source of the infection has not yet been identified. The restaurants closed on April 21 at the request of authorities.

TODAY’S TOPIC: H.R. 7567

The lower chamber of Congress has passed H.R. 7567 to replace the expiring Farm Bill in a bipartisan 224-200 vote. The $278 million bill now goes to the Senate. 

With the 2018 Farm Bill expiring on Sept. 30, 2026, the upper chamber is under a deadline to act on a new farm bill for the President’s signature.