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H.R. 4590 111th Congress House

School Meal Safety and Standards Act

Official title: To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require the Secretary of Agriculture to ensure the safety of school meals by enhancing coordinatio… Show full official titleShow less

Official title: To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require the Secretary of Agriculture to ensure the safety of school meals by enhancing coordination with States and schools operating school meal programs in the case of a recall of contaminated food.

Introduced: February 3, 2010 See on congress.gov
Education Administrative law and regulatory proceduresDepartment of AgricultureElementary and secondary educationFood supply, safety, and labeling
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This bill died when the 111th Congress ended
It never became law before the 111th Congress (2009–2010) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 3 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Feb 23, 2010
Referred to the Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities.
Feb 3, 2010
Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.
Feb 3, 2010
Introduced in House
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 Latest action February 23, 2010

Referred to the Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

School Meal Safety and Standards Act - Amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require the Secretary of Agriculture to: (1) develop guidelines for determining when it is appropriate to institute an administrative hold on suspect food and commodities being used in school meal programs; (2) work with states to increase the timeliness and completeness of their notifications to schools and school food authorities of food and commodity holds and recalls; (3) improve the timeliness and completeness of direct notifications to states, schools, and school food authorities about holds and recalls; (4) establish a timeframe for improving commodity hold and recall procedures so that they address the role of processors and distributors and facilitate the provision of more timely and complete information to states, schools, and school food authorities; (5) revise procedures to provide states with more specific instructions for schools and school food authorities about how to dispose of recalled foods and commodities and obtain timely reimbursement; (6) institute a systematic quality check procedure to ensure that holds and recalls on foods and commodities used by schools are carried out effectively; (7) study existing commercial practices and standards regarding food quality, safety, and testing; and (8) implement regulations that require the Department of Agriculture to meet or exceed, with respect to the school meal programs, commercial practices and standards.

Directs the Secretary, within one year of this Act's enactment, to revise the procedures of the Food Safety and Inspection Service to ensure that schools are included in recall effectiveness checks.

 Related & companion bills 1
 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 2
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APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 4590: School Meal Safety and Standards Act. 111th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/111-HR-4590/
MLA
"H.R. 4590: School Meal Safety and Standards Act." 111th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/111-HR-4590/.
Bluebook (legal)
H.R. 4590, 111th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/111-HR-4590/.
Markdown link
[H.R. 4590: School Meal Safety and Standards Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/111-HR-4590/)
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