<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
 
        If you have web access, you can get a copy of HR 3199 (the FDA bill Irma
DeBruyn refered to).  The HRL of the site I used is:
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/c104query.html
 
        It seems to be a bill intended to speed up the FDA's approval process
for new medicines and weaken federal regulation in that area rather than
one concerned with food safety, though I read it hurriedly and may well
have missed something.  (Also, the areas of impact aren't always clear to
lay readers, and I have no expertise in this area.  Speeding up the FDA
operations may well have its impact on food safety too, and both drugs
and "biological products"--does that mean food?--are mentioned in the
bill.)   According to the information on the web site, the bill was
introduced at the end of March, referred to the house committee on
commerce in mid-April and referred to that committee's health
subcommittee at the beginning of May.  The subcommittee has held
hearings, but nothing else has happened.  A lot of bills never make it
out of committee.
 
Sydney Pierce
Hillsborough, NC
[log in to unmask]