July 30 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. House voted to overhaul the nation’s food-safety laws in the wake of high-profile outbreaks of food-borne illnesses that sickened, killed and left industries fighting to woo back wary customers.

The chamber approved on a 283-142 vote today a $3.5 billion measure that would direct the Food and Drug Administration to write new regulations to safeguard the food supply, require more frequent inspections of processing facilities and force companies to keep better records to help regulators trace outbreaks. The plan would be partly financed by a $500 annual fee on food producers.

“It will fundamentally change the way in which we ensure the safety of our food supply and protect American consumers, farmers and business,” said Representative John Dingell, a Michigan Democrat. “A series of food-borne disease outbreaks has laid bare unacceptable gaps in our food safety laws.”

Critics said the bill would impose too many rules along with a tax that would probably be passed on to consumers through higher food prices.

“The bill still goes too far in the direction of trying to produce food from a bureaucrat’s chair in Washington,” said Representative Frank Lucas of Oklahoma, the top Republican on the House Agriculture Committee. “Has anyone thought about how this would increase the cost of food?”

The measure now heads to the Senate where a food-safety bill introduced by Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, is awaiting committee approval.

Obama Statement

President Barack Obama, in a statement after today’s vote, called the House legislation a “major step forward in modernizing our food-safety system and protecting Americans from food-borne illness.”

The House rejected the bill yesterday when Democratic House leaders sought passage under procedures that required a two- thirds majority. Republicans and some Democrats balked, saying they weren’t given enough time to review the bill.

The push for the bill follows several food recalls, including one earlier this year involving salmonella-tainted peanuts that killed at least eight and sickened 600 more. The Centers for Disease Control estimates there are 76 million cases of food-borne illnesses annually, 5,000 of which prove fatal.

The FDA oversees 80 percent of the nation’s food supply, with meat, eggs and poultry falling under the jurisdiction of the Department of Agriculture.

Expanded Power

The FDA, which has the authority now to recall a handful of products such as infant formula, would get expanded power under the bill to have more tainted items yanked off store shelves. The agency would also be allowed to impose quarantines restricting the movement of food deemed a threat to public safety.

Food processors would have to be inspected more frequently, with those deemed the riskiest examined at least once a year. Produce and processed foods would have to bear labels identifying their countries of origin.

The bill also requires factories to register annually with the government, which Dingell said is “very important because without that, Food and Drug doesn’t know who is doing what.”

The measure directs the Health and Human Services secretary to determine by the end of this year whether bisphenol A, a chemical used in plastic food containers, presents a risk to infants, pregnant women or young children. It also calls for a study of whether antibiotics used in animals contributes to antibiotic resistance in humans.

The $500 fee, which would be indexed for inflation, would generate an estimated $1.4 billion over the next five years, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Companies owning multiple facilities subject to the charge would pay no more than $175,000 annually. Farms and restaurants would be exempted from the fee.

The bill is H.R. 2749.

To contact the reporter on this story: Brian Faler in Washington at bfaler@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 30, 2009 19:18 EDT