Congressional Research Service Reports - 11 Matching Results
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- Food Safety Agencies and Authorities: A Primer
- No Description Available.
- Food Safety Agencies and Authorities: A Primer
- Several federal agencies, in cooperation with state governments, are responsible for regulating the safety of the U.S. food supply. In the wake of an outbreak of foodborne illness and the largest recall of suspected contaminated meat in U.S. history in August 1997, several policymakers have reopened the debate on creating a single, independent, federal food safety agency. They assert that this would provide more effective regulatory control over the entire farm-to-table food production and marketing system by eliminating the overlapping and occasionally competing for objectives of multiple agencies. As background for further discussion on this and related food safety issues, this report describes the roles of the primary federal and cooperating state agencies responsible for food safety and enumerates the major legislative authorities currently governing them.
- Sugar Policy Issues
- No Description Available.
- Sugar Policy Issues
- No Description Available.
- Fishery, Aquaculture, and Marine Mammal Legislation in the 108th Congress
- This report provides information about the Fishery, Aquaculture, and Marine Mammal Legislation in the 108th Congress. fish and marine are important resources in the open ocean and nearshore coastal areas.
- International Efforts to Control the Spread of Avian Influenza (H5N1) Virus: Affected Countries' Responses
- This report examines the efforts of overseas governments to combat the spread of avian influenza H5N1 which first appeared in birds and humans in Hong Kong in 1997, causing 100 reported human deaths from Vietnam to Turkey and appearing in birds in Africa and Europe.
- Agricultural Biotechnology: Background and Recent Issues
- Since the first genetically engineered (GE) crops (also called GM [genetically modified] crops, or GMOs, genetically modified organisms) became commercially available in the mid-1990s, U.S. soybean, cotton, and corn farmers have rapidly adopted them. As adoption has spread, there have been policy debates over the costs and benefits of GE products. Issues include the impacts of GE crops on the environment and food safety, and whether GE foods should be specially labeled. Congress generally has been supportive of GE agricultural products, although some Members have expressed wariness about their adoption and regulation. The 109th Congress will likely continue to follow trade developments, particularly the U.S.-EU dispute, as well as U.S. regulatory mechanisms for approving biotech foods.
- Food Safety: Oversight and Current Issues
- No Description Available.
- Food Safety on the Farm: Federal Programs and Legislative Action
- In recent years, major outbreaks of foodborne illnesses, product recalls, and reports about unsafe food imports have caused some to question the adequacy of the U.S. food safety system. Stakeholders appear to agree that an optimal system should encompass a comprehensive, preventive approach to food safety, focusing on those foods and points in the food system that pose the greatest public health risks, starting at the point of production - that is, on farms and ranches. This report discusses differing opinions on this topic, as well as related legislation.
- Local Food Systems: Selected Farm Bill and Other Federal Programs
- This report examines the federal support of local food systems, such as sales of locally-produced foods which comprise a small but growing part of U.S. agricultural sales.
- Nutrition Labeling of Restaurant Menu and Vending Machine Items
- This report discusses nutrition labeling for items on restaurant menus, in vending machines, prepared food at groceries, and entertainment venues which is required by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passed in 2010 but now due to be fully implemented in May 2018.