House sends food-safety measure to Obama for his signature

The House of Representatives approved a sweeping food safety bill Tuesday that would strengthen the Food and Drug Administration and impose new rules on domestic production and trading partners. The vote was 215-144. The bill will now go to President Obama for his signature.

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

The bill would give the FDA, which is responsible for overseeing about 80% of the nation’s food supply, the authority to require domestic food producers to draw up detailed plans to ensure the safety of their products.

Domestic companies also would have to make their records available more quickly to the FDA, and the agency would be directed to inspect production facilities more frequently -- a process now so inadequate that many plants are not checked for years at a time.