Lawmakers Are Rolling Back Food Safety Rules

In the deal to end the government shutdown, lawmakers added clauses that would temporarily bar states from regulating which foods manufacturers can label “healthy” and suspend new listeria regulations.

After the Senate buried provisions stripping food safety regulations in its emergency spending bill to end the forty-four-day government shutdown, the House followed suit and introduced additional clauses that would temporarily bar states from regulating which foods manufacturers can label “healthy” and suspend new listeria regulations for “low-risk ready-to-eat” foods, according to a Lever review of the legislation.

The move follows a multimillion-dollar lobbying blitz and pushback from companies and organizations that stand to benefit from the provisions. It also comes amid growing publi