Two years after Congress passed the Food Safety Modernization Act, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has finally proposed rules that will give the law life and allow the agency to enforce standards to thwart foodborne illnesses. The new safeguards will allow the FDA to do more than just react after people get sick; it will require producers to develop plans to actively preventcontaminated food from getting to grocery store shelves.

An editorial published in The New York Times over the weekend describes the trend – a matter of serious concern in the public interest community – of public protections being put on hold, due in large part to industry interference.

The 390 Americans who recently got sick from Salmonella in seafood probably missed out on yesterday's holiday celebrations. But they weren't the only ones who weren't celebrating: food safety advocates were also bemoaning yet another missed Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) deadline.

Imagine for a moment that you're in the last few weeks of your current job.  Your final goal is to complete an important, long-term project that you've been working on for several years.  Finishing this project will be a major milestone and will benefit people both inside and outside your organization.  Suddenly, your employer makes a new policy: people aren't allowed to complete projects during their last few weeks with the organization.  You'd probably be confused, even furious, and rightfully so, because all of your hard work would have been for nothing.  A policy like that just wouldn't make sense, yet it's similar to what the House wants to do to those who have been working to develop and improve our nation's public protections.