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The FDA poised to get a bigger stick

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In a world where we get garlic from China, shellfish from Thailand and sugar cane from Mexico, Congress is poised to approve an ambitious food safety bill that would strengthen the nation’s top regulator and impose new rules on domestic production and trading partners.

The legislation is aimed at preventing tainted food from entering the supply chain, sickening Americans and forcing massive recalls. It would give the Food and Drug Administration sweeping new powers to demand recalls and require importers to certify the safety of what they’re bringing into this country.

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The House is expected to pass the measure Tuesday. ‘This is a once-in-a-lifetime update. A lot has changed since 1938,’ when the current food regulatory regime was established, said Ami Gadhia, policy counsel for Consumers Union. ‘This will put FDA in a posture to prevent food-borne illness before it happens.’

Read more in Tuesday’s front-page analysis:

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