"Two U.S. health and environment organizations sued the federal government on Wednesday for what the groups say is a failure to implement and enforce a new food safety law that could help prevent thousands of deaths caused by food-borne illnesses each year."
"The groups said government officials had repeatedly missed mandatory deadlines for issuing final regulations required by the Food Safety Modernization Act. They are asking a federal court to order officials at both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Office of Management and Budget to force the agencies to start enforcing the law.
'President Obama says the passage of this bill is one of the hallmarks of his first administration,' said Andrew Kimbrell, executive director with the Center for Food Safety, which is one of the plaintiffs.
The other plaintiff is the Center for Environmental Health. Both it and the Center for Food Safety are non-profit public interest advocacy groups."
Carey Gillam report for Reuters August 30, 2012.
SEE ALSO:
"Feds Playing Politics With Food Safety Is Enough to Make You Sick" (Huffington Post)
"Foodborne Outbreaks Falling Short of U.S. Reduction Goals" (Bloomberg)
"Imported Mangoes Called Probable Source of Salmonella Cases" (Los Angeles Times)
