The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is violating food-safety law by delaying regulations intended to help prevent outbreaks of food-borne illnesses, a federal judge ruled.
U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton in Oakland, California, said the agency has “admittedly failed to comply with the mandatory rule-making schedule” of the Food Safety and Modernization Act, signed into law by President Barack Obama in January 2011. The FDA had 18 months to issue new regulations. The agency said the “aggressive timelines” have “proven to be unachievable,” Hamilton said in a ruling.