Senate approves long-delayed food safety bill

Senate approves long-delayed food safety bill

www.cnn.com

Washington (CNN) -- The Senate passed a food safety bill Tuesday to give more power to the Food and Drug Administration, more than a year after the House of Representatives passed a similar measure.

The bill, designed to bolster the safety of the nation's food supply, passed 73 to 25.

A version of the bill was passed by the House of Representatives in July of 2009 but had languished in the Senate, a fact that has angered some food safety advocates.

Non-profit advocacy group Center for Scien

(visit the link for the full news article)

They passed s-510

is this the end of the small mom and pop farmers?

Will monsanto gain control of the US food supply, then after that the world?

Will it be illegal to own seeds?

I was under the impresion this was going to be over seen by the department of homeland security???

what do you think????

www.cnn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

more orwellian doublespeak- all bills passed for our safety are meant to further enslave us.

Originally posted by LDragonFire


They passed s-510

OMG...Senate did something!! That should be the headline news frankly

is this the end of the small mom and pop farmers?

in a word...no. only nutty right wing conspiracy blogs say that...anyone whom actually read even the summery however realize its aimed at large corporate farming and canning...things like...no storing lethal insecticide right next to the food about to go out, etc...the only ones complaining that they(large industrial farming and canning corporations) have to now make sure their food isn't putrid and deadly are...you guessed it...the companies that have to clean up their act and of course the lobbiests trying to pretend this effects your local farmers market.

Will monsanto gain control of the US food supply, then after that the world?

They do already...get a grip...this aims at those types of foods actually...

Will it be illegal to own seeds?

depends on the seed I suppose...not sure if owning pot plant seeds is illegal.but ya, things like that thats already illegal will still be illegal.

I was under the impresion this was going to be over seen by the department of homeland security???

...impressions...I can do a pretty good Dubya impression

what do you think????

My thoughts are jaded by the facts..will try to come up with some fact free paranoia thoughts later ong

reply to post by LDragonFire


the FDA is overlooked by the DHS, so in a sense, yes, it is under DHS jurisdiction. what im flustered about, is that i thought this had already failed the senate. or was that the foreclosure bill? its too bad. everything is getting regulated. can't even grow my own food . what a sham. and one of my dreams in life since i was a kid was to have my own little garden with a row each of carrots, tomatoes, onions, grapes, and just about any seed i could get at home depot, where my kids could learn agriculture, and my wife could tend and grow the best organic food in the city, and we wouldnt have to buy at the stores cause we always had our own delicious and fresh supply in the backyard so we would save money but most of all be happy and self sufficient and love would in turn grow out of us and pollinate our neighbors home and the love would grow everywhere. but no. love is organic, therefore forbidden unless regulated by the FDA and DHS and CIA and FBI and CNN and BBC and GAY and ASS.

reply to post by LDragonFire


What do I think?

OH *SNIP*!!!

In the words of Henry Kissinger: "Control oil and you control nations; control food and you control the people."

Get ready for corporate controlled famine. Prices will remain stable until independent farmers are wiped out. If we do not watch the federal register like a haw and scrutinize every FREKing bill they will "Amend" this Law so it includes:


this from the original bill in the house HR 875 includes this.
"in any action to enforce the requirements of the food safety law, the connection with interstate commerce required for jurisdiction SHALL BE PRESUMED TO EXIST."
The fact you are growing veggies for you and friends does not exclude you!


The Commerce Clause:

A farmer was growing wheat for his own use “The government claimed that if Mr. Filburn grew wheat for his own use, he would not be buying it — and that affected interstate commerce” The Supreme court found against the farmer!!!
www.fff.org...
Enter Roscoe Filburn, an Ohio dairy and poultry farmer, who raised a small quantity of winter wheat — some to sell, some to feed his livestock, and some to consume. In 1940, under authority of the Agricultural Adjustment Act, the central government told Mr. Filburn that for the next year he would be limited to planting 11 acres of wheat and harvesting 20 bushels per acre. He harvested 12 acres over his allotment for consumption on his own property. When the government fined him, Mr. Filburn refused to pay.
Wickard v. Filburn got to the Supreme Court, and in 1942, the justices unanimously ruled against the farmer. The government claimed that if Mr. Filburn grew wheat for his own use, he would not be buying it — and that affected interstate commerce. It also argued that if the price of wheat rose, which is what the government wanted, Mr. Filburn might be tempted to sell his surplus wheat in the interstate market, thwarting the government's objective. The Supreme Court bought it


The Court's opinion must be quoted to be believed:
[The wheat] supplies a need of the man who grew it which would otherwise be reflected by purchases in the open market. Home-grown wheat in this sense competes with wheat in commerce.
As Epstein commented, "Could anyone say with a straight face that the consumption of home-grown wheat is 'commerce among the several states?'" For good measure, the Court justified the obvious sacrifice of Mr. Filburn's freedom and interests to the unnamed farmers being protected:
It is of the essence of regulation that it lays a restraining hand on the self-interest of the regulated and that advantages from the regulation commonly fall to others.

After Wickard , everything is mere detail. The entire edifice of civil rights legislation stands on the commerce power. Under this maximum commerce power, the government has been free to regulate nearly everything, including a restaurant owner's bigotry. The Court has held that if Congress sees a connection to interstate commerce, it is not its role to second guess.
www.fff.org...

I would be willing to wager that next year and years to come people will still have home gardens despite the fear mongering. So, while many of you are hiding in your bunkers listening to the talking heads on AM radio, I will be enjoying my home grown tomatoes and peppers.

Originally posted by Kaploink
I would be willing to wager that next year and years to come people will still have home gardens despite the fear mongering. So, while many of you are hiding in your bunkers listening to the talking heads on AM radio, I will be enjoying my home grown tomatoes and peppers.

Yep..no worries..well, until a random person, perhaps a neighbor or someone you don't even know, finds some reason to complain about it...of course no one ever complains about stuff that isn't their business...so you should have nothing to ever worry about...same chances as some kid getting fined for selling lemonade in front of their house... oh wait, bad example

Originally posted by asperetty
reply to post by LDragonFire

 

the FDA is overlooked by the DHS, so in a sense, yes, it is under DHS jurisdiction. what im flustered about, is that i thought this had already failed the senate. or was that the foreclosure bill? its too bad. everything is getting regulated. can't even grow my own food

. what a sham. and one of my dreams in life since i was a kid was to have my own little garden with a row each of carrots, tomatoes, onions, grapes, and just about any seed i could get at home depot, where my kids could learn agriculture, and my wife could tend and grow the best organic food in the city, and we wouldnt have to buy at the stores cause we always had our own delicious and fresh supply in the backyard so we would save money but most of all be happy and self sufficient and love would in turn grow out of us and pollinate our neighbors home and the love would grow everywhere. but no. love is organic, therefore forbidden unless regulated by the FDA and DHS and CIA and FBI and CNN and BBC and GAY and ASS.

You really need to start fact-checking what you read. The FDA is in no way a department of Homeland Security. It is a part of Health and Human Services, led by Kathleen Sebelius, who used to be Governor of Kansas. You really should read this law. It has nothing to do with growing your own food, unless you want to lace your arugala with escheria coli. Please point out the specific paragraph that prohibits you from growing your own food. I didn't think so. I suppose some people get their jollies by staying perpetually frightened. Kind of like riding a never-ending roller coaster of fear. Still hunting for that paragraph, huh?

reply to post by SaturnFX


Is this the end of the small mom and pop farmers?

in a word...no. only nutty right wing conspiracy blogs say that...anyone whom actually read even the summery however realize its aimed at large corporate farming and canning...things like...no storing lethal insecticide right next to the food about to go out, etc...the only ones complaining that they(large industrial farming and canning corporations) have to now make sure their food isn't putrid and deadly are...you guessed it...the companies that have to clean up their act and of course the lobbiests trying to pretend this effects your local farmers market.

Technically you are correct. However just like the Federal Reserve Act had "good " amendments, after the public forgot about the uproar, the bill was amended over 100 times. No we have a privately owned central bank that prints money as it wishes with no oversight.

I will guarrantee that amendment will creep in until your back yard garden WILL be regulated. all it takes is:

"in any action to enforce the requirements of the food safety law, the connection with interstate commerce required for jurisdiction SHALL BE PRESUMED TO EXIST."

that was seen in the original bill.

There is also the matter of intent. The World Trade Organization with the Agreement of Agriculture was ratified in 1995.

September, 1995, USDA's Food Safety & Inspection Service presented a 600-page document Farm-To-Table - control of every step in the food chain from production to home preparation. haccpalliance.org...

January 2005: Guide to good farming practices: This draft guide to good farming practices for animal production food safety was taken from the Report of the Meeting of the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Standards Commission (Paris, 17-28 January 2005) www.oie.int/boutique/extrait/25berlingueri823836_0.pdf?PHPSESSID=64969a28688594daf57a7263f42fb1ce

2005 Bill: Safe and Secure Food Act (Good Farming Practices) www.govtrack.us...

The FDA puts it even more bluntly:

International Harmonization
www.cfsan.fda.gov...

The harmonization of laws, regulations and standards between and among trading partners requires intense, complex, time-consuming negotiations by CFSAN officials. Harmonization must simultaneously facilitate international trade and promote mutual understanding, while protecting national interests and establish a basis to resolve food issues on sound scientific evidence in an objective atmosphere. Failure to reach a consistent, harmonized set of laws, regulations and standards within the freetrade agreements and the World Trade Organization Agreements can result in considerable economic repercussions.

So where are the riots?
What they gonna do, charge you with food terrorism?
No law would stop me growing my own food,might as well be in prison.

Originally posted by iceblue20-12
So where are the riots?
What they gonna do, charge you with food terrorism?
No law would stop me growing my own food,might as well be in prison.

If you feel you are going to be some sort of freedom fighting rebel by planting a tomato garden, go right ahead and do it...put one of those "dont tread on me" flags in the center of it and look all cool.

the bill has nothing to do with personal gardens, nor even small farms and mom/pop shops...this is targetted exclusively at large food industries and how they handle/keep clean the food supply.

Dont fall for lobbiest retoric..they failed, and rightfully so...this bill makes sure your hunts ketchup doesn't have insecticide and feces at extrodinary measure in it...do you honestly not like that concept?

reply to post by iceblue20-12

So where are the riots? What they gonna do, charge you with food terrorism? No law would stop me growing my own food,might as well be in prison.

They have already been practicing on how to stop you. That is why farmers are so paranoid. This is just one incident that happened not too far from me. A friend when and actually look at the mess (feces and toilet paper among other things) left by the "food Safety" Gestapo.

In most states, no warrant is required to enter the farm and tests are not required to confirm a disease...

At 5:00 AM on September 12, 2006, Cindi and Danny Henshaw were awakened by their local Virginia game warden, who arrested Danny on an apparently trumped up Class 2 Misdemeanor charge and took him from his Willis River Hunting preserve for supposedly, “operating a mammalian hunting enclosure without a permit.” As soon as Danny was out of the way, 9 SUV’s and pickups, 4 wheelers, and numerous heavily armed agents entered the Henshaw property with a Quarantine Order and began shooting Henshaw’s hogs and sheep with 12 gauge shotguns. Some 270 shell casings were also found....

Danny was released from custody in 2 hours and allowed to return to the farm where he and Cindi were controlled around the clock by armed guards from September 12th through September 22nd.

A command center had been set up and another raid was being conducted near Farmville in Cumberland County, Virginia, at the same time....

...regulations allow 180 days for sell out for slaughter before an order of mandatory destruction is issued. Pseudorabies infected hogs are safe for human consumption. The Henshaws should have been allowed to sell their hogs for slaughter, if pseudorabies had been detected, but they were not allowed to test, confirm the presence of pseudorabies, or sell their hogs. They were only allowed to listen to the gunshots and hear the screaming, wounded, dying hogs....

From A Witness at the trial:
Norman was not aware this was going on at all and was a bit peeved. He figured that Dan would just have to make arrangements to make payments or whatever. Norman was not happy with this sort of treatment.

Finally, the gal called over the Commonwealth Atty. Bell and said Danny was being un-co operative. Bell spoke to the gal and finally settled it, I guess. Danny was not happy with her attitude at all.

While we were talking to Norman, he pointed out the laws that were sited on the original warrant. ( there were several quoted on the original papers) and Norman found, after a great deal of study, there was no law at all that pertained to this case, especially how it was carried out with no notice or warning to correct the problem, if in fact one existed. Basically the bottom line is Danny was convicted on laws that do not even exist. SO MUCH FOR JUSTICE….

reply to post by SaturnFX


Yes,, well sauce without the feces would be good.
Food laws have been like that here (aus) for ages.
Dominoes pizza just got $100k fine for un-hygenic practices, yahoo news somewhere.

I thought food hygiene was already a standard in USA?

Originally posted by iceblue20-12
reply to post by SaturnFX

 

Yes,, well sauce without the feces would be good.
Food laws have been like that here (aus) for ages.
Dominoes pizza just got $100k fine for un-hygenic practices, yahoo news somewhere.

I thought food hygiene was already a standard in USA?

This is more indirect...makes sure that the pest control products are far enough away from the canning machines, etc...things like that...
Also increases inspections on large manufacturers, gives extra codes for new plants, things like that...all targetting at big business.

Anyone whom actually reads through the summery will see its ultimately a good thing, and it only targets big corporate industries...yes, we have plenty of laws on handling and prepping food sold to the public en masse, however, there are also plenty of dangerous loopholes

I was angry about this bill initially...then I stopped listening to conspiracy theorists and actually read it...realizing the conspiracy theorists aren't actually stating a theory verses pushing a corporate lobby point that is in every way seen, a complete lie...total fabrication, and I frankly don't know why ATS allows some of those other threads clearly lying to exist in any other place beyond hoax...

I guess if a person does it..its a hoax...if a company does it...its a opinion worthy of public discussion and outrage.

meh, whatever.

If any of you really believe that this atrocity is only "aimed" at large food producers, just try to buy eggs from an Amish farmer in Penn. Or for that matter, watch your local "farmers market" disappear. All you have to do is read the dang Bill to see what horrors lurk within it.

But I suppose that actually reading a piece of legislation is too difficult for the fat hogs in Washington.

The ballot box has failed, time to escalate to the ammo box.

Originally posted by crimvelvet
Is this the end of the small mom and pop farmers?

in a word...no.

Technically you are correct.

Good...then lets leave it at that...considering technically I am correct.

Anything past the technicals are pure speculation...such as "but maybe they will then put an amendment in that requires microchips in all ears of corn" or anything else you can think of.


when dealing in law...stick to the technicals....technically, this issue is open and shut...no matter what corporate interests would want the average people to think.

reply to post by SaturnFX

Dont fall for lobbiest retoric..they failed, and rightfully so...this bill makes sure your hunts ketchup doesn't have insecticide and feces at extrodinary measure in it...do you honestly not like that concept?

You really have swallowed the Koolaid.

Let me see if I can explain without writing a book. (I have 13 pages of JUST references)


Purdue University: Private International Cartels: shows the Ag Cartels exist.

The sudden discovery of a global pandemic of international cartels in the mid 1990s, after a hiatus of a half century, is puzzling. That the greatest number and most injurious conspiracies should be clustered in the food and feed ingredients industries adds another element of mystery to the puzzle.

In the 1990's the food cartels decided to take over the world food supply. They formed the IPC who rammed through the Agreement on Agriculture written by VP of Cargill Dan Amstutz. This was ratified in 1995 by Clinton, while his Senior Foreign Trade Adviser was Robert Shapiro, CEO of Monsanto - does that give you a bit of a clue that the average joe is NOT being considered here??

This was the first change and opened up the USA to foreign food WITHOUT ADEQUATE INSPECTION. The Key phrase is: "Aims to ensure that governments do not use quarantine and food safety requirements as Unjustified trade barriers.. It provides Member countries with a right to implement traceability [NAIS] as an SPS measure." www.oie.int...


The second change was in July 1996 - Major re-structuring of USDA food policies: Pathogen Reduction/Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) Systems rule, www.fsis.usda.gov...

The HACCP set the stage for an increase in domestic food borne illness.

...when USDA “officials initially described HACCP to the industry in the mid-90’s, the agency made the following enticing promises:

* “Under HACCP, the agency will implement a ‘Hands Off’ role in meat inspection.
* “Under HACCP, the agency will no longer police the industry, but the industry will police itself.
* “Under HACCP, the agency will disband its previous command and control authority.
* “Under HACCP, each plant will write its own HACCP Plan, and the agency cannot tell plants what must be in their HACCP Plans.”

As a result, the plant operator was required to identify potential hazards and the critical points in the process where those hazards could come into play. The plan would then identify procedures that would be used to minimize the hazard risk at those control points. The plant would be responsible for the implementation of the plan.

As a result, the inspector was no longer responsible for what was happening on the plant floor: that was left to company personnel. The new role of the inspector was to make sure that plant personnel were carrying out their duties in a manner consistent with the HACCP plan. In many cases this amounted to making sure that all of the paper work was in the proper order.

Food inspections have dropped from a robust 50,000 in 1972 to about 5,000 today, meaning that U.S. food processors are inspected on average about every 10 years. The chance of a food product from overseas being inspected is infinitesimal. Most raw materials for our drugs come from foreign producers that are rarely inspected. The rate of quality-control failures found in manufacturing facilities by FDA inspectors has soared. www.washingtonpost.com...

]

The USDA has decrease the inspection of imported food from 8.0% to 0.6% WHILE IMPORTS HAVE DOUBLED SINCE THE MID NINETIES.
www.worldnetdaily.com...

When the HACCP system failed Food Inspectors complaints to the USDA management went unheeded as Mr. Stan Painter, Chairman, National Joint Council of Food Inspection Locals stated in his Apr 17, 2008 Testimony into the Congressional Investigation.

It (the recall of Hallmark/Westland Meat) highlights one of the problems that we have attempted to raise with the agency ever since 1996 when the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) inspection system was put in place. There seems to be too much reliance on an honor system for the industry to police itself. While the USDA investigation is still on going at Hallmark/Westland, a couple of facts have emerged that point to a system that can be gamed by those who want to break the law. It (HACCP) shifted the responsibility for food safety over to the companies .

An example of the results of these two polices is the reintroduction of bovine tuberculosis into the USA.

In 1995, before WTO, California did 10,576 TB tests in cattle after HACCP and the WTO agreement on Ag, it was cut to 1,425 by 1999.

Meanwhile per the WTO Agreement on Ag the USA borders were opened to Mexican cattle and a Mexican cattle Assoc was responsible for the Santa Teresa, NM cattle port-of-entry”-

RESULT TB found in New Mexico, California Oklahoma and other states.
The Media TRUMPED the INCREASE of testing from 1,425 to 2,500 but said NOTHING about the DECREASE from 10,576

Even worse a TEXAS ANIMAL HEALTH COMMISSION Report says not only is the US government shutting down testing labs but with ”the discontinuation of first-point testing, slaughter testing will become the primary method for brucellosis surveillance.... An animal identified through slaughter testing as possibly infected is no longer living and therefore additional testing of that animal is not possible. As a result, the process to be followed requires the identification of the herd the animal came from and conducting a whole herd test to determine whether or not infection is present in the herd. “



So tell me WHY Stan Painter's testimony was ignored, WHY was John Munsell's frantic attempts to get his representatives and the USDA to address the issue ignored. Why wasn't his story splashed across the news coast to coast? Why is HACCP the CAUSE of our recent food borne illness problem LEFT INTACT???

Fortunately there was a last minute amendment to the bill that provides exclusion for small farms and individuals selling less than $500,000 a year to local consumers.
Thanks God for small miracles!

Originally posted by crimvelvet
You really have swallowed the Koolaid.

No, else I would be seeing a piece of legslation that was passed today somehow linked to something in the 90s

Let me see if I can explain without writing a book. (I have 13 pages of JUST references)

nice wall of completely unrelated text...I am sure plenty of people will think "wow, thats alot of words..clearly that guy must be right.

So..let me counter your wall of words which have no relation to what passed...with a wall of words summerizing what just passed.

Congressional Research Service Summary
The following summary was written by the Congressional Research Service, a well-respected nonpartisan arm of the Library of Congress. GovTrack did not write and has no control over these summaries.

12/18/2009--Reported to Senate amended. FDA Food Safety Modernization Act -
Title I - Improving Capacity to Prevent Food Safety Problems
Section 101 -
Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) to expand the authority of the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to inspect records related to food, including to: (1) allow the inspection of records of food that the Secretary reasonably believes is likely to be affected in a similar manner as an adulterated food; and (2) require that each person (excluding farms and restaurants) who manufactures, processes, packs, distributes, receives, holds, or imports an article of food permit inspection of his or her records if the Secretary believes that there is a reasonable probability that the use of or exposure to such food will cause serious adverse health consequences or death.
Section 102 -
Authorizes the Secretary to suspend the registration of a food facility if the food manufactured, processed, packed, or held by a facility has a reasonable probability of causing serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals.
Section 103 -
Requires each owner, operator, or agent in charge of a food facility to: (1) evaluate the hazards that could affect food; (2) identify and implement preventive controls; (3) monitor the performance of those controls; and (4) maintain records of such monitoring. Deems facilities required to comply with certain food-specific standards to be in compliance with this section. Requires the Secretary to promulgate regulations to establish science-based minimum standards for conducting a hazard analysis, documenting hazards, implementing preventive controls, and documenting such implementation. Prohibits the operation of a facility that manufactures, processes, packs, or holds food for sale in the United States if the owner, operator, or agent in charge of such facility is not in compliance with this section. Delays implementation of this section for small businesses.
Section 104 -
Directs the Secretary to: (1) review and evaluate relevant health data and other information to determine the most significant foodborne contaminants; and (2) issue contaminant-specific and science-based guidance documents, action levels, or regulations.
Section 105 -
Sets forth provisions related to produce safety, including to require the Secretary to: (1) establish science-based minimum standards for the safe production and harvesting of those types of fruits and vegetables that are raw agricultural commodities to minimize the risk of serious adverse health consequences or death; and (2) publish updated good agricultural practices and guidance for the safe production and harvesting of specific types of fresh produce.
Section 106 -
Requires the Secretary to promulgate regulations to protect against the intentional adulteration of food.
Section 107 -
Directs the Secretary to assess and collect fees related to: (1) food facility reinspection; (2) food recalls; (3) the voluntary qualified importer program; and (4) importer reinspection. Applies export certification provisions to food.
Section 108 -
Requires the Secretary and the Secretary of Agriculture to prepare and submit to the relevant congressional committees and make public the National Agriculture and Food Defense Strategy, which shall include: (1) an implementation plan; (2) a coordinated research agenda; and (3) a process to achieve, and evaluate progress towards, goals.
Section 109 -
Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to report annually on the activities of the Food and Agriculture Government Coordinating Council and the Food and Agriculture Sector Coordinating Council.
Section 110 -
Requires the HHS Secretary to submit to Congress: (1) a comprehensive report that identifies programs and practices that are intended to promote the safety and supply chain security of food and to prevent outbreaks of foodborne illness and other food-related hazards that can be addressed through preventive activities; and (2) biennial reports on food safety programs and practices following the submission of the comprehensive report. Requires the HHS Secretary and the Secretary of Agriculture to submit to Congress, biennially, a joint food safety and food defense research plan.
Section 111 -
Requires the HHS Secretary to promulgate regulations on sanitary transportation practices for the transportation of food.
Section 112 -
Requires the Secretary to develop and make available to local educational agencies, schools, early childhood education programs, and interested entities and individuals guidelines for developing plans for individuals to manage the risk of food allergy and anaphylaxis in schools and early childhood education programs, to be implemented on a voluntary basis. Sets forth issues for such guidelines to address, including: (1) parental obligation to provide documentation of their child's food allergy; (2) the creation of an individual plan for food allergy management; (3) communication strategies between schools or childhood education programs and providers of emergency medical services; and (4) strategies to reduce the risk of exposure to anaphylactic causative agents in classrooms and common school or early childhood education program areas, such as cafeterias. Allows the Secretary to award matching grants to assist local educational agencies in implementing such food allergy and anaphylaxis management guidelines.
Title II - Improving Capacity to Detect and Respond to Food Safety Problems
Section 201 -
Requires the Secretary to: (1) allocate resources to inspect facilities and articles of food imported into the United States based on their risk profiles; (2) increase the frequency of inspection of all facilities; and (3) report to the appropriate congressional committees annually on food facility and food import inspections.
Section 202 -
Requires the Secretary to: (1) recognize bodies that accredit laboratories with a demonstrated capability to conduct analytical testing of food products; (2) establish a publicly available registry of accreditation bodies; (3) develop model standards that an accreditation body shall require laboratories to meet; and (4) periodically reevaluate accreditation bodies and revoke recognition of any not in compliance with this section. Sets forth requirements for mandatory testing, including that: (1) testing be conducted by federal laboratories or accredited nonfederal laboratories; and (2) results of such testing be sent directly to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Requires the Secretary to review results from any sampling and testing that lead to a state or locality issuing a food recall to evaluate the need for a national recall or other compliance and enforcement activities. Requires the Secretary to report to the relevant congressional committees on the progress in implementing a national food emergency response laboratory network.
Section 203 -
Directs the DHS Secretary to maintain an agreement through which relevant laboratory network members will: (1) agree on common laboratory methods in order to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and information; (2) identify means by which each member could work cooperatively to optimize national laboratory preparedness and provide surge capacity during emergencies; and (3) engage in ongoing dialogue and build relationships that will support a more effective and integrated response during emergencies. Sets forth reporting requirements.
Section 204 -
Requires the HHS Secretary to: (1) improve tracking and tracing of fruits and vegetables that are raw agricultural commodities in the event of a foodborne illness outbreak; and (2) establish standards for the type of information, format, and timeframe for persons to submit records to aid the Secretary in such tracking and tracing.
Section 205 -
Requires the Secretary to establish a pilot project to explore and evaluate methods for rapidly and effectively tracking and tracing processed food so that the Secretary may quickly identify the source of an outbreak involving such a processed food and the recipients of the contaminated food.
Section 206 -
Requires the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to enhance foodborne illness surveillance systems to improve the collection, analysis, reporting, and usefulness of data on foodborne illnesses. Requires the Secretary to: (1) develop and implement strategies to leverage and enhance the food safety and defense capacities of state and local agencies to achieve specified goals, including improving foodborne illness outbreak response and containment; and (2) complete a review of state and local capacities and needs for enhancement not later than one year after enactment of this Act. Reauthorizes appropriations for grants to states and Indian tribes to expand participation in networks to enhance federal, state, and local food safety efforts, including meeting the costs of establishing and maintaining the food safety surveillance, technical, and laboratory capacity needed for such participation.
Section 207 -
Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) provide a responsible party with an opportunity to cease distribution and recall an adulterated or misbranded article of food if the use of or exposure to such article will cause serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals; (2) order a responsible party to immediately cease distribution and provide notice to relevant persons if the responsible party does not voluntarily cease distribution of or recall such article of food; and (3) order a recall if the Secretary determines that removal of the article from commerce is necessary, but only after providing an opportunity for a hearing.
Section 208 -
Revises the standard for the administrative detention of food to allow such a detention if the FDA has reason to believe that such article is adulterated or misbranded.
Section 209 -
Requires the Administration of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide support for, and technical assistance to, state, local, and tribal governments in preparing for, assessing, decontaminating, and recovering from an agriculture or food emergency.
Section 210 -
Requires the Secretary to set standards and administer training and education programs for the employees of state, local, territorial, and tribal food safety officials relating to the regulatory responsibilities and policies established by this Act. Authorizes and encourages the Secretary to conduct examinations, testing, and investigations for the purposes of determining compliance with the food safety provisions of this Act through the officers and employees of such state, local, territorial, or tribal agency.
Section 211 -
Expands the program for grants to states, territories, and Indian tribes for inspections to include grants to: (1) train to HHS standards for the examination, inspection, and investigation of food manufacturing, processing, packing, holding, distribution, and importation; (2) build the capacity of the laboratories for food safety; (3) build the infrastructure and capacity of the food safety programs; and (4) take appropriate action to protect the public health in response to a recall of food under the FFDCA.
Title III - Improving the Safety of Imported Food
Section 301 -
Requires U.S. importers to perform risk-based foreign supplier verification activities to verify that imported food is produced in compliance with applicable requirements related to hazard analysis and standards for produce safety and is not adulterated or misbranded. Requires the Secretary to issue guidance to assist U.S. importers in developing foreign supplier verification programs.
Section 302 -
Requires the Secretary to: (1) establish a program to provide for the expedited review and importation of food offered for importation by U.S. importers who have voluntarily agreed to participate in such program; and (2) issue a guidance document related to participation and compliance with such program.
Section 303 -
Requires imported food that fails to meet requirements for a certification or other assurance that the food meets applicable FFDCA requirements to be refused admission. Authorizes the Secretary to require, as a condition of granting admission to an article of food into the United States, that an entity provide a certification or other assurances that the article of food complies with applicable FFDCA requirements.
Section 304 -
Directs the Secretary to require, prior to importation of an article of food, notice of any country to which such article has been refused entry.
Section 305 -
Requires the Secretary to determine whether a country can provide reasonable assurances that the food supply of the country meets or exceeds the safety of food manufactured, processed, packed, or held in the United States.
Section 306 -
Directs the Secretary to develop a comprehensive plan to expand the technical, scientific, and regulatory capacity of foreign governments and food industries from which foods are exported to the United States.
Section 307 -
Authorizes the Secretary to enter into arrangements and agreements with foreign governments to facilitate the inspection of registered foreign facilities. Requires the Secretary to direct resources to inspections of foreign facilities, supplies, and food types to help ensure the safety and security of the U.S. food supply. Requires food to be refused admission into the United States if permission to inspect the food facility is denied by the facility owner, operator, or agent or the foreign country.
Section 308 -
Sets forth provisions governing the establishment of a system to recognize bodies that accredit third-party auditors and audit agents to certify that eligible entities meet applicable FFDCA requirements for importation of food into the United States.
Section 309 -
Requires the Secretary to establish offices of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in foreign countries to provide assistance to the appropriate governmental entities with respect to measures to provide for the safety of articles of food and other products regulated by the FDA that are exported by such countries to the United States.
Section 310 -
Requires the Secretary to: (1) develop and implement a strategy to better identify sand prevent entry into the United States of smuggled food; and (2) notify the DHS Secretary not later than ten days after identifying a smuggled food that would cause serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals. Requires a press release to warn consumers and vendors about a potential threat from smuggled food if certain requirements are met.
Title IV - Miscellaneous Provisions
Section 401 -
Authorizes appropriations for FY2010-FY2014 for the activities of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, the Center for Veterinary Medicine, and related field activities in the Office of Regulatory Affairs of the FDA. Directs the HHS Secretary to increase the field staff of such Centers and Office.
Section 402 -
Establishes whistleblower protections for employees of entities involved in the manufacturing, processing, packing, transporting, distribution, reception, holding, or importation of food who provide information relating to any violation of the FFDCA.
Section 404 -
Declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed in a manner inconsistent with the agreement establishing the World Trade Organization or any other treaty or international agreement to which the United States is a party.
Section 405 -
Requires the Secretary to update the Fish and Fisheries Products Hazards and Control Guidance to take into account advances in technology.
Section 406 -
Requires the Secretary, acting through the Commissioner of Food and Drugs, to study the transportation of food for consumption in the United States, including an examination of the unique needs of rural and frontier areas with regard to the delivery of safe food.

I also bolded something there that actually is the key...
establishes protection for whistleblowers...

and that, my friend, is what the true concern is...if whistleblowers can't be blackmailed to shut up...but instead are protected...well, that would concern a bunch of tyrants...enough to start twisting facts and trying to get this bill stopped.

But I digress...I wil make you a deal...I have a tomato and cucumber garden...should any authority come and tell me its illegal, I will immediately smoke a cat, and start a thread saying how I am totally wrong and know nothing...that somehow technicals are not the law, but conspiracy lies actually are true.