FDA SEEKS $1.4 BILLION FOR FOOD-SAFETY LAW AS BUDGET FACES CUTS

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) charged with preventing E. coli outbreaks similar to the one that sickened thousands in Europe, is trying to wedge $1.4 billion for a new food-safety law.

A vote in the House last month to reduce the FDA’s fiscal 2012 food-safety budget by 10% to $752 million, the agency estimates, will slow the law’s progress if enacted, say supporters of the January legislation.

Representative Jack Kingston, a Georgia Republican who oversees the budgets of the FDA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said increases are unnecessary because the food supply is “99.9 percent safe."

That view may be short-sighted, given the type of epidemic in Europe, said Bill Marler, a Seattle attorney who represents food poisoning victims.