Bill to End Shutdown Also Gets Rid of a Bunch of Food Safety Rules for Some Reason

So that was all for nothing, huh?

By Braden Bjella

Published 1 month ago in Wtf

You might have heard that the government shutdown is finally coming to an end. While this is nice, you may also be wondering what kind of deal lawmakers struck to actually make this happen.


Now, we’re finally learning the terms of this agreement and, well, it sucks. Not only did it solve basically zero of the problems that caused the shutdown in the first place, but it manages to introduce new ones. For example, if this bill passes in its current form, you might want to reconsider eating any food produced in this country ever again.


That’s because, as reported by The Lever, senators inserted language into the bill that “eliminates rules designed to prevent food contamination and foodborne illnesses at farms and restaurants.” They also limited rules on the regulation of ultra-processed foods — so your cuisine is going to be dangerous *and* fake!


What does this mean in practice? In summary, the new funding bill blocks enforcement of federal rules meant to trace the sources of outbreaks and contamination. While these rules had already been passed, senators on both sides of the aisle — who all received massive amounts of money from the food and restaurant lobby — pushed to withhold the funding needed to implement them. And so, of course, this traceability system isn’t happening. Go, us.


This comes at a time when it’s already getting less safe to eat in this country. Twice as many people were hospitalized by, or passed away from, contaminated food outbreaks last year than the year prior. With laws like these making traceability more difficult, it really seems like it’s just going to keep happening.


For the time being, just eat old MREs. They may be gross, but at least they’re (likely) safe!

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