Dive Brief:
- The U.S. House of Representatives plans to vote Monday on a bill that could potentially keep funding flowing to the Food and Drug Administration while the current federal government shutdown is in effect.
- Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Robert Aderholt (R) of Alabama proposed the Food and Drug Safety Act last Thursday, seeking to remedy a halt in food inspections and other issues that have arisen in the shutdown's wake.
- The shutdown “means some outbreaks will never be investigated and solved while others might be solved days or weeks later than they otherwise would," said Caroline Smith DeWaal, director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest’s Food Safety.
Dive Insight:
Every stopgap measure passed in Congress right now will undoubtedly be appreciated by the workers and inspectors who go back to work, but the food industry as a whole will have to brace for larger economic impacts if it continues.