Skip to main content
S 1502 113th Congress Senate Agriculture and Food Administrative law and regulatory procedures Agricultural education Agricultural research Animal and plant health Animal protection and human-animal relationships Civil actions and liability Congressional oversight Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation Department of Agriculture Food industry and services Food supply, safety, and labeling Government information and archives Government studies and investigations Health information and medical records Health promotion and preventive care Livestock Meat Trade restrictions User charges and fees

Safe Meat and Poultry Act of 2013

Introduced: September 12, 2013 Introduced by: Gillibrand, Kirsten E. Democratic · New York See on congress.gov
 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Sep 12, 2013
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
Sep 12, 2013
Introduced in Senate
 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Safe Meat and Poultry Act of 2013 - Amends the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act, and the Egg Products Inspection Act (the Acts) to include in the definition of "adulterated" a product bearing or containing a pathogen or contaminant associated with serious illness or death.

Amends the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to: (1) define specified food safety terms, and (2) set forth civil penalties for food safety law violations.

Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to: (1) identify significant foodborne disease pathogens, (2) determine levels of food product contamination, (3) establish public health goals to reduce foodborne illness, (4) prescribe pathogen reduction performance standards and implement a sampling program to determine food establishment compliance, (5) establish an accredited meat and meat food product testing program, and (6) implement adulterated food tracing protocols.

Requires certain food establishments to sample for the presence of identified pathogens at any production or processing point.

Permits banning food imports from countries refusing inspections by the Secretary.

Sets forth notice and recall provisions.

Requires the Secretary to: (1) maintain an active surveillance system of food, food products, and epidemiological evidence; (2) assess the frequency and sources of food-caused human illness; (3) establish guidelines for a system to take and analyze food samples; (4) establish a national public education program on food safety; and (5) conduct specified research concerning food safety.

Establishes penalties under the Acts for the introduction into commerce of unsafe or misbranded products of up to $100,000, 20 years' imprisonment, or both.

Requires a study of worker safety in the meat packing and poultry processing industry, including the relationship between line speed and worker safety.

What's happening now September 12, 2013

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1