In response to the recent salmonella outbreak in peanut products, the Georgia House passed a bill allowing the State Agriculture Commission to deputize county and city health workers to inspect food processing plants.
One of the big complaints from the state Agriculture commission is that they may have missed the signs because they don't have enough food safety inspectors. HB 381 would allow the state to commission local health inspectors to poke around the approximately five hundred fifty food manufacturers. Republican Representative Terry England of Auburn says these local health workers would only visit facilities.
"They’re not allowed at any point to shut an operation down, but if they find something suspicious they are to notify the department of agriculture."
The bill does not lay out how these local workers will be trained to spot defects at manufacturing plants. These local inspectors would also need to know if a food processor is violating federal rules and report those concerns to federal authorities. The salmonella outbreak is blamed for nine deaths.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Local Officials to Inspect Food Plants
