10 Consumer and Public Health Groups Urge Congress to Fund Food Safety Overhaul

Pew and nine other organizations concerned with public health and consumer protection are urging Congress to meet the President’s request for additional resources to implement the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, or FSMA. Passed with bipartisan support and signed by the President in 2011, the act shifts the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s focus from reacting to foodborne illness outbreaks to preventing them. President Obama has requested an additional $109.5 million in new budget authority for FSMA implementation in Fiscal Year 2016.

Major rules under FSMA are scheduled to be finalized starting this summer, and FDA needs significant additional resources to retrain inspectors in the new prevention-based oversight system; hire technical experts to assist growers and food manufacturers to understand and the new requirements; and build the new comprehensive food import oversight system provided for in the law, among many other activities.

Download the Letter (PDF)