The House approved Thursday the first major changes to food safety laws in 70 years, giving sweeping new authority to the Food and Drug Administration to regulate the way food is grown, harvested and processed.
"Americans are dying because the Food and Drug Administration does not have authority to protect them and American producers and agriculture are being hurt," said Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), the bill's author, who has been pushing food safety reform for more than 20 years. "This will fundamentally change the way in which we ensure the safety of our food supply."