Food safety bill headed for governor’s desk
Senate Bill 80 is that rarest of beasts: A major piece of legislation that gets nary a single vote against it.
The House just approved the bill, which would make it a felony for any company or individual to fail to report the discovery of salmonella or other food-borne disease to state authorities.
The House and Senate have both now unanimously approved the bill, which will be sent to Gov. Sonny Perdue’s desk.
The bill will mandate, not request, state access to records regarding the destruction of food contamination such as salmonella, which could include salmonella testing and logs on the use of roasters.
The legislation is the result of the scandal involving a South Georgia peanut plant that is blamed for a number of deaths and illnesses around the country.
The bill also would demand that a company that finds salmonella notify the state within 24 hours.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Guides
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2011 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
6 comments Add your comment
The Snark
March 18th, 2009
1:18 pm
Thanks for closing the barn door, guys, but I think this horse is already out.
Sandy
March 18th, 2009
9:33 pm
The horse might be out and the barn doors closed….but….that doesn’t mean that we can’t catch the horse and never let it happen again.
Sandy
March 19th, 2009
4:06 am
The horse might be out and the barn doors closed….but….that doesn’t mean that we can’t catch the horse and never let it happen again.
Sorry, forgot to add great post! Can’t wait to see your next post!
Alfred
March 19th, 2009
8:15 am
So, a few dozen people are sick or dying, and the government pounces /after/ the fact. The system works!
Nevermind the assinine futility of this bill. which seems to have been written under the assumption that the plant /knew/ about the salmonella and then willfully… poisoned their customers? Slashing peanut butter sales potential the next year? Does this make sense to ANYONE?
For that matter, how do you prove this? It’s not like we’ve invented a brain-scanning device. “Did you know the food was poisonius?” “No.” “Case dismissed.” This is absolutely nothing more than government press time. A campaign stab two years too early for an election. Sure, people who let this kind of thing happen deserve to be repremanded, but who would even do such a thing? And if they did, there are already plenty of laws on the books to punish them.
Please. Please. Please. Stop thanking the government when it’s being totally ineffective, and stop fooling yourselves into feeling safe just because someone signs a sheet of paper.
Your morning jolt: Unemployment record again, library books for GOPers, hands off a mother's eggs, Rove on Obama. | Political Insider
March 19th, 2009
8:48 am
[...] Bill to make non-reporting of salmonella a felony achieves final passage. [...]
sickofthetyranny
March 19th, 2009
12:05 pm
I think you’re right, Alfred.