Legislation to strengthen America’s food safety system will have the opportunity to take a major step forward next week as bipartisan bills supported by the Southern Shrimp Alliance advance in both the House and Senate. If enacted, the legislation would finally give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority to destroy imported food products that pose significant risks to public health instead of allowing exporters to simply ship those products elsewhere—a loophole that permits dangerous imports to potentially re-enter the U.S. market through another port.
FDA Refusal Data Underscores Importance
The need for the authority long sought by the FDA is evident in the agency’s latest enforcement data. Every month, the Southern Shrimp Alliance details FDA refusals of shrimp import entry lines due to the presence of banned antibiotics such as nitrofurans (FDA Refusal Charge 3220), chloramphenicol (FDA Refusal Charge 3885), and other prohibited veterinary drugs (FDA Refusal Charge 2860).
A broader analysis of the data shows these refusals represent only a small portion of the FDA’s efforts to keep dangerous food products out of the U.S. market. For example, in this fiscal year alone, the FDA has also refused imports of croaker, dace, eel, goby, and pompano, as well as imports of honey, for the presence of banned veterinary drugs (FDA Refusal Charge 2860).
So far in fiscal year 2026, the FDA has reported stopping imports of:
- candy, carp, chocolate, eel, ginger, grouper, melons, mushrooms, nuts, pastes, scallops, shrimp, spices, tea, tilapia, and wheat that was contaminated with salmonella (FDA Refusal Charge 9);
- cheese, crab, edible seeds, fruit, mixed vegetables, mushroom, peas, and salmon that was contaminated with listeria (FDA Refusal Charge 295);
- candy and figs for the presence of mycotoxins (FDA Refusal Charge 3897); and
- beans, bread, cakes, candy, cheese, chocolate, clams, cookies, fruits, gourds, ice cream, lentils, melons, milk, milkfish, mushrooms, oysters, pastes, potato chips, nuts, seaweed, spices, and vegetables determined to contain poisonous substances (FDA Refusal Charges 251 and/or 3878).
To reduce the risk of dangerous products from overseas reaching American consumers, the Southern Shrimp Alliance has long advocated for the Destruction of Hazardous Imports Act (H.R. 2715 and S. 3213), bipartisan legislation that would give the FDA authority to order the destruction of imported products that pose a significant risk to public health, rather than allowing them to be re-exported and potentially “port shopped” back into the United States through another entry point.
This legislative proposal is moving closer to reality after significant developments announced in the House and Senate this week.
House Bill Heads to the Floor Under Suspension
Led by Congressmen Clay Higgins (R-LA) and Troy Carter (D-LA) and joined by seventeen other bipartisan co-sponsors, H.R. 2715 has been placed on the House suspension calendar for the week of July 20, 2026. This expedited procedure is used to quickly pass non-controversial, broadly bipartisan bills. Under House procedure, bills considered “under suspension of the rules” are brought to the floor for a vote with limited debate and no opportunity for amendment, requiring a two-thirds majority of the present, voting Members.
Senate HELP Committee to Mark Up Package Bill
In the Senate, the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), chaired by Senator Bill Cassidy, MD (R-LA), is preparing to markup legislation sponsored by Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), the Making America’s Food Safer Act, on July 22. This bill includes most of the substance of H.R. 2715 and builds upon the Destruction of Hazardous Imports Act, S. 3213, introduced by Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) and co-sponsored by Senators Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), John Kennedy (R-LA), and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL). The Making America’s Food Safer Act would additionally improve information sharing between the FDA and state/local authorities, while also expanding the FDA’s accredited third-party certification program.
“As we confront the outbreak of foodborne illness across the country, Americans understand the importance of ensuring the safety of our food supply,” said Blake Price, executive director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance. “The U.S. shrimp industry has long advocated for allowing the FDA to destroy dangerous imports and has worked with broad coalitions to promote the passage of authorizing legislation. Food products adulterated with antibiotics and other poisons or contaminated with dangerous pathogens should be destroyed. Anything less gives unscrupulous exporters the opportunity to continue to exploit weaknesses in our food safety system.”