Food safety legislation (HR 2749) passed in the U.S. House of Representatives today with broad bipartisan support (283 in support, 142 opposed), having recovered from a procedural stumble Wednesday. As the measure was debated, congressmen on both sides of the aisle praised the leadership of Congressman Adam Putnam (R-Fla.) the author with U.S. Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.) of key provisions that have been included in the bill.

Speaking on the House floor today Putnam noted that many incidents of food-borne illness have involved imported foods.  “This bill takes an important step forward in setting the same standards for imported food that we place on domestically produced food,” Putnam said.

(If you would like to view a video of Putnam’s floor speech during today’s debate on this measure, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PznKcmFroXw)

As he introduced Putnam to speak on the House Floor this afternoon, U.S. Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) said,  “I want to recognize my colleagues Mr. Costa and Mr. Putnam for their bill the SAFE Feast Act, which I was an original cosponsor of, and which got rolled into this bill.  It was a great help when they did that.”

Following, Putnam’s speech, Congressman  John Dingell (D-Mich.), the longest serving member in the history of the U.S. House of Representatives, praised Putnam “…particularly for seeing to it that foreigners now have to meet the same requirements that American (food producers) do.”

The food safety measure incorporates key provisions Putnam has championed in bi-partisan food safety legislation he introduced earlier this year and in previous sessions of Congress.

These provisions would make significant improvements such as identifying specific risks of food-borne contamination, giving the Food and Drug Administration the authority to issue mandatory recalls of contaminated food and holding imported goods to the same safety and quality standards as American food products.

In addition, this legislation gives FDA the authority to set commodity-specific standards for the safe production, harvesting and packaging of fruits and vegetables, including mandatory standards for high risk produce and voluntary Good Agricultural Practices (GAPS) for all produce.

Since 2001, Putnam has represented Florida’s 12^th Congressional District, which includes most of Polk County and portions of Hillsborough and Osceola counties.