ARLINGTON, VA — January 4, 2011 — The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) praised President Obama for signing The Food Safety Modernization Act into law today. FMI President and Chief Executive Officer Leslie G. Sarasin issued the following statement:

“America’s grocery stores and its customers praise the President and the Congress for working together with industry to improve the safety of our food supply. Today’s supermarkets offer a wide variety of foods from across the globe. This law will enhance the safety of our food supply by requiring every food producing company to have a written food safety plan, by providing the Food and Drug Administration the authority to recall products, by recognizing third-party certification plans, and by adopting a risk-based approach to food safety inspections. Working together, we all will play an important role to prevent foodborne illnesses and strengthen the safety of our food supply.”