After a year-long delay, the U-S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released two draft proposals for major regulations of food safety.

That will allow the FDA to shift its focus on preventing, rather than simply reacting, to food-borne illnesses, according to Ellis County K-State Extension FACS Agent, Linda Beech.

“These new major regulations are aimed at those in the food processing chain, rather than consumers,” she explains.  “Areas such as suppliers, manufacturing plants, wholesale dealers, and transportation will be affected.”

In general, says  Beech, the U-S food supply is considered to be very safe.

“But there are things putting at risk the food we consume today which weren’t a concern in past generations.  Now we have huge batches of foods coming into the United States from countries around the world, and there is always the possibility the imports could be mixed and mingled with domestic products,” Beech says.

The proposed FDA regulations, the first reforms in food safety in more than 70 years, are designed to address gaps on food production and manufacturing processes that leave an estimated 48 million Americans sick each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nearly 130,00 of those people are hospitalized and 3,000 die from the illness.