Food Surveillance System Closer To Reality

The Food and Drug Administration may have to bulk up on information technology if the House signs off on surveillance measures in a food safety bill the Senate passed Tuesday.

Three months after enactment of S. 510, FDA would have to create an online search engine that allows people to find helpful information on every recalled food, such as whether the recall is ongoing or completed.

Within two years, FDA's parent agency, the Health and Human Services Department, would have to report to Congress on new IT needed for identifying food contamination risks and collecting data from foreign governments, industry, labs, consumers and other sources, according to the bill. HHS officials also would have to detail their progress on building an electronic system that can flag indicators of health risks from the data gathered.

Similarly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would be required to upgrade surveillance machines with better tools for obtaining data on disease exposures; enhancements for matching illnesses with specific foods; and mechanisms for sharing anonymous, aggregated data with the public more quickly.

Lawmakers now will reconcile differences between the House bill, H.R. 2749, approved in July 2009, and the Senate version. The Senate bill, which had been in the works for years, was prompted by several high-profile food scares, including outbreaks of salmonella in tomatoes, spinach tainted with e-coli, contaminated imports from China and the biggest beef recall in U.S. history.

Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., who spearheaded the legislation, said: "This bill will have a dramatic impact on the way the FDA operates - providing it with more resources for inspection, mandatory recall authority and the technology to trace an outbreak back to its source."