Senate passes major U.S. food safety legislation
By Andrew Zajac, Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON — After languishing for more than a year, a food-safety bill that has enjoyed strong bipartisan support passed the Senate on Tuesday, raising prospects for tougher and more extensive federal inspections and other safeguards.
The bill, which President Obama supports, still needs to be reconciled with differing provisions in legislation passed by the House in July 2009.
But the Senate action was cheered by advocates as a sign that the long delay could be nearing an end and that the nation’s food-safety laws will receive their first major overhaul in decades.