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Monday, January 7, 2013

Chow This Is Not Your Grandpa's Factory Farm

Posted by Paul Constant on Mon, Jan 7, 2013 at 12:31 PM

For the first time in 70 years, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released two major requirements for improving food safety.

On Friday, the FDA released two draft rule proposals for food safety that will allow the FDA to shift its focus on preventing, rather than simply reacting, to food borne illnesses. Despite the delay, public health advocates heralded the proposals as a major step in implementing the landmark FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) that President Obama signed into law two years ago, giving the FDA one year to put the first policies in place.

This is great news! For the last few years, we've been seeing far too many E. coli and salmonella outbreaks. However, to me, the most important thing I learned from this blog post is that these regulations are "the first reforms in food safety in more than 70 years." Seven decades! We eat in a completely different way than our parents and grandparents did; how did FDA regulations stay the same for the better part of a century? And how do we make sure that the system becomes more dynamic from now on? This is a conversation that we should've been having last year, every time a Republican candidate brought up a desire for fewer regulations.

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@1 If you don't think the FDA and it's regulations on food aren't information any city dweller needs to have why even bother to post?

Posted by watchout5

on January 8, 2013 at 4:35 AM

how did FDA regulations stay the same for the better part of a century?

Because making any changes would have been "bad for business". It's why, as much as Republicans whinge, governmental regulations are few and far between, why most labor and safety regulations are merely helpful suggestions, and why the overwhelming majority of enforceable regulations are only enforceable through civil court, not through governmental investigations and fines.

Posted by keshmeshi on January 7, 2013 at 2:02 PM

Really, Mr. G. Turn that frown upside down! There's no need to be so negative all the time.

Posted by Catalina Vel-DuRay

on January 7, 2013 at 1:32 PM

The FDA is (and has been) a farce. When you allow the beef industry to police itself in terms of regulation and compliance, when you allow the BigAg concerns (Monsanto, Dow, et al) to do the same thing, when you turn your head away when the dairy industry pollutes the environment and nation's waterways, you cease to be an effective organization. Scrap the FDA, just get rid of it altogether, and start fresh. There is no more corrupt part of government than the FDA. And fwiw Mister G, this is as much a Seattle concern as anywhere else.

Posted by sperifera on January 7, 2013 at 12:46 PM

Do you people ever write about Seattle, or have you simply given up?

Posted by Mister G on January 7, 2013 at 12:35 PM