The House GOP Takes a Courageous Stand Against Food Safety

It takes guts to oppose food safety.  But that’s no problem for the House GOP.  According to the NY TImes, today’s House farm bill wasn’t content to eliminate food stamps, it also took aim at food safety:

One overlooked provision in the bill came from Representative Dan Benishek, Republican of Michigan, a surgeon, and would require additional economic and scientific analyses before a 2010 law to improve the food safety system goes into effect.

A spokesman for Mr. Benishek, Kyle Bonini, said it was meant to protect farmers “from being hit with more costly regulations.”

But food safety advocates said that they were surprised by the provision and that it would effectively halt implementation of the law, which gives the Food and Drug Administration greater authority over food production.

 You may recall that there were some E. coli and other contamination problems that led to the passage of the law in the first place.  But perhaps e. coli is a hoax by scientists, just like climate change.

You can consider this photo either an illustration of food poisoning or an editorial comment on the House’s action, whichever you prefer:

food safety, House of Representatives, Republican Party