Senator's Plan to Prevent Food Borne Illness

Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota has proposed a plan that will help to prevent food borne illness. The plan, she says, doesn't have to be expensive. She has said that she will introduce the bill within the next two weeks.

So what will the bill do?

First, it will direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to enhance the nation's foodborne illness surveillance system through various steps, including improving tools for detecting case clusters, coordinating surveillance efforts, expanding system capacity, and promoting participation by local, state, and federal agencies and the food industry. As well as direct the CDC to provide foodborne illness investigation support and expertise to state health agencies and laboratories and promote "best practices" for the investigations. Finally it will establish regional "Food Safety Centers of Excellence"—collaborations between universities and state public health agencies to help train and support public health officials.

The Senator has said that the repsonsibility of keeping Americans safe from food borne illness rests with the government. Hopefully her bill will help restore the confidence in the nation's food safety system!

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