Senate expected to vote on food safety bill

A version of the bill easily passed in the House more than a year ago but has languished in the Senate. Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) is pushing to get the bill passed before the lame-duck session ends in December.

House leaders have indicated that the House would accept the Senate version, avoiding the need to reconcile the bills.

The legislation follows a spate of national outbreaks of food poisoning involving products as varied as eggs, peanuts and spinach in which thousands of people were sickened and more than a dozen died.

Despite strong bipartisan support and backing from a diverse coalition of major business and consumer groups, the bill has been buffeted by politics in recent weeks.