Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Sep 22, 2009
Safe Food for Schools Act of 2009 - Amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require the Secretary of Agriculture to: (1) develop guidelines for determining when it is appropriate to institute an administrative hold on suspect commodities and products being used in school meal programs; (2) work with states to increase their timeliness in notifying schools of food recalls; (3) improve the timeliness and completeness of direct communication with schools about holds and recalls; (4) establish a timeframe for improving commodity hold and recall procedures so that they address the role of processors and distributors, thereby facilitating the provision of more timely and complete information to schools; (5) revise procedures to provide states with more specific instructions for schools about how to dispose of recalled commodities and products and obtain timely reimbursement; and (6) institute a systematic quality check procedure to ensure that holds on commodities and products used by schools are carried out effectively.
Directs the Secretary, within one year of this Act's enactment, to revise the procedures of the Food Safety and Inspection Service to ensure that schools are included in recall effectiveness checks.
Source last updated: Aug 14, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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