Dead Prez and Government All Agree: Time to Eat Healthy!

Be Healthy - Dead Prez

Today Congressional Representative Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) and Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.)introduced a new bill that would improve United States Food Regulations.

The Washington Post reports that the bill "would give the Food and Drug Administration broad new enforcement tools, including the authority to recall tainted food, the ability to "quarantine" suspect food, and the power to impose civil penalties and increased criminal sanctions on violators."

The bill was inspired by recent food contamination issues such as the recent salmonella outbreak in the Peanut Butter and e-coli in the spinach. The Washington Post reports that the push for the bill was increased because of the serious issues connected to the peanut butter contamination stating: "Federal authorities said Peanut Corporation of America knowingly shipped tainted peanuts to manufacturers who used them as ingredients in thousands of consumer products. The contamination was linked to more than 900 illnesses and nine deaths in fall and winter, although federal officials say that tens of thousands more were probably sickened. The outbreak triggered the largest food recall in U.S. history." Records from the Peanut Corporation of America also show that the peanut plant in Georgia had not been checked by authorities at the Food and Drug Administration in SEVEN years!

New regulations for food justice will place more responsibility on the manufacturers, growers and handlers of our food products. They will have to identify possible contamination and document how they are avoiding contaminated food. It will also strengthen the Food and Drug Administration's ability to quarantine contaminated food and pull food from the market. The Food and Drug laws in the US have not been drastically altered since they were enacted during the presidency of Teddy Roosevelt.

In honor of the introduction of this bill we decided to make "Be healthy" By Dead Prez the Eco-Jam of the day. Enjoy and remember to take care of yourselves today.