I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1507 
To establish the Food Safety Administration to protect the public health 
by preventing food-borne illness, ensuring the safety of food, improving 
research on contaminants leading to food-borne illness, and improving 
security of food from intentional contamination, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 6, 2005 
Ms. DELAURO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on 
Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris-
diction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To establish the Food Safety Administration to protect the 
public health by preventing food-borne illness, ensuring 
the safety of food, improving research on contaminants 
leading to food-borne illness, and improving security of 
food from intentional contamination, and for other pur-
poses. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Safe Food Act of 2005’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Findings; purposes. 
Sec. 3. Definitions. 
TITLE I—ESTABLISHMENT OF FOOD SAFETY ADMINISTRATION 
Sec. 101. Establishment of Food Safety Administration. 
Sec. 102. Consolidation of separate food safety and inspection services and 
agencies. 
Sec. 103. Additional duties of the Administration. 
TITLE II—ADMINISTRATION OF FOOD SAFETY PROGRAM 
Sec. 201. Administration of national program. 
Sec. 202. Registration of food establishments and foreign food establishments. 
Sec. 203. Preventative process controls to reduce adulteration of food. 
Sec. 204. Performance standards for contaminants in food. 
Sec. 205. Inspections of food establishments. 
Sec. 206. Food production facilities. 
Sec. 207. Federal and State cooperation. 
Sec. 208. Imports. 
Sec. 209. Resource plan. 
Sec. 210. Traceback. 
TITLE III—RESEARCH AND EDUCATION 
Sec. 301. Public health assessment system. 
Sec. 302. Public education and advisory system. 
Sec. 303. Research. 
TITLE IV—ENFORCEMENT 
Sec. 401. Prohibited Acts. 
Sec. 402. Food detention, seizure, and condemnation. 
Sec. 403. Notification and recall. 
Sec. 404. Injunction proceedings. 
Sec. 405. Civil and criminal penalties. 
Sec. 406. Presumption. 
Sec. 407. Whistleblower protection. 
Sec. 408. Administration and enforcement. 
Sec. 409. Citizen civil actions. 
TITLE V—IMPLEMENTATION 
Sec. 501. Definition. 
Sec. 502. Reorganization plan. 
Sec. 503. Transitional authorities. 
Sec. 504. Savings provisions. 
Sec. 505. Conforming amendments. 
Sec. 506. Additional technical and conforming amendments. 
Sec. 507. Regulations. 
Sec. 508. Authorization of appropriations.
Sec. 509. Limitation on authorization of appropriations. 
Sec. 510. Effective date. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 
(1) the safety of the food supply of the United 
States is vital to the public health, to public con-
fidence in the food supply, and to the success of the 
food sector of the Nation’s economy; 
(2) lapses in the protection of the food supply 
and loss of public confidence in food safety are dam-
aging to consumers and the food industry, and place 
a burden on interstate commerce; 
(3) the safety and security of the food supply 
requires an integrated, system-wide approach to pre-
venting food-borne illness, a thorough and broad- 
based approach to basic and applied research, and 
intensive, effective, and efficient management of the 
Nation’s food safety program; 
(4) the task of preserving the safety of the food 
supply of the United States faces tremendous pres-
sures with regard to— 
(A) emerging pathogens and other con-
taminants and the ability to detect all forms of 
contamination; 
(B) an aging and immune compromised 
population, with a growing number of people at
high-risk for food-borne illnesses, including in-
fants and children; 
(C) an increasing volume of imported food, 
without adequate monitoring and inspection; 
and 
(D) maintenance of rigorous inspection of 
the domestic food processing and food service 
industries; 
(5) Federal food safety standard setting, in-
spection, enforcement, and research efforts should be 
based on the best available science and public health 
considerations and food safety resources should be 
systematically deployed in ways that most effectively 
prevent food-borne illness; 
(6) the Federal food safety system is frag-
mented, with at least 12 Federal agencies sharing 
responsibility for food safety, and operates under 
laws that do not reflect current conditions in the 
food system or current scientific knowledge about 
the cause and prevention of food-borne illness; 
(7) the fragmented Federal food safety system 
and outdated laws preclude an integrated, system- 
wide approach to preventing food-borne illness, to 
the effective and efficient operation of the Nation’s
food safety program, and to the most beneficial de-
ployment of food safety resources; 
(8) the National Academy of Sciences rec-
ommended in the report ‘‘Ensuring Safe Food from 
Production to Consumption’’ that Congress establish 
by statute a unified and central framework for man-
aging Federal food safety programs, and rec-
ommended modifying Federal statutes so that in-
spection, enforcement, and research efforts are 
based on scientifically supportable assessments of 
risks to public health; and 
(9) the lack of a single focal point for food safe-
ty leadership in the United States undercuts the 
ability of the United States to exert food safety lead-
ership internationally, which is detrimental to the 
public health and the international trade interests of 
the United States. 
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 
(1) to establish a single agency to be known as 
the ‘‘Food Safety Administration’’ to— 
(A) regulate food safety and labeling to 
strengthen the protection of the public health; 
(B) ensure that food establishments fulfill 
their responsibility to produce food in a manner
that protects the public health of all people in 
the United States; 
(C) lead an integrated, system-wide ap-
proach to food safety and to make more effec-
tive and efficient use of resources to prevent 
food-borne illness; 
(D) provide a single focal point for food 
safety leadership, both nationally and inter-
nationally; and 
(E) provide an integrated food safety re-
search capability, utilizing internally-generated, 
scientifically and statistically valid studies, in 
cooperation with academic institutions and 
other scientific entities of the Federal and State 
governments, to achieve the continuous im-
provement of research on food-borne illness and 
contaminants; 
(2) to transfer to the Food Safety Administra-
tion the food safety, labeling, inspection, and en-
forcement functions that, as of the day before the ef-
fective date of this Act, are performed by other Fed-
eral agencies; and 
(3) to modernize and strengthen the Federal 
food safety laws to achieve more effective application