In time for the Thanksgiving holiday, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is introducing a new bill that would help the Food and Drug Administration trace food contamination to its source.
When there are outbreaks of foodborne illnesses, the FDA can only inspect produce farms. They cannot investigate nearby animal farms that could be the root cause of an outbreak.
Gillibrand’s Expanded Food Safety Inspection Act would allow the FDA to coordinate with other organizations and agencies, like the United States Department of Agriculture and the Centers for Disease Control, to track down the source of the outbreak.
“This would allow them to identify the starting point of these pathogens, stop the spread of the disease and offer solutions to prevent an outbreak in the future.”
She says this will also help for faster recall of dangerous food products.
