The overhaul of food safety laws recently passed by the Senate had the support of business interests, consumer groups and lawmakers from both parties, but the bipartisan legislation still generated plenty of work along the K Street corridor.
At least 221 organizations hired 77 lobbying shops to quibble over details in the Food and Drug Administration Food Safety Modernization Act since it was introduced by sponsor Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) at the beginning of last year. At times, industry organizations and corporate heavyweights with a stake in the bill — such as the Grocery Manufacturers Association, the National Restaurant Association, the Natural Products Association, Abbott Laboratories and Anheuser-Busch — retained multiple District firms to represent their interests. Many also deployed their own government relations staff to the Hill, a Capital Business analysis of Senate lobbying records shows.
The bill would give vast new authority to the FDA and is designed to reduce nationwide outbreaks of food-borne illness.
Though nearly all of the District's biggest shops registered to lobby on the overhaul — often for longtime clients for which they handled dozens of legislative issues — it was the smaller, more specialized firms that represented client interests with the greatest frequency, records show. Individuals with insider knowledge of the FDA, the Agriculture Department and related congressional committees were particularly in demand.
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