ATLANTA (AP) -- Georgia could be the first state to adopt strict new food safety requirements in the aftermath of the salmonella outbreak.
The House is set to consider a plan Wednesday that requires food makers to alert state inspectors within 24 hours if a plant's internal tests show its products are tainted. Experts say no other state has such a rule.
The Senate has already approved similar changes, meaning the final version could soon be sent to Gov. Sonny Perdue.
The proposal was introduced after the salmonella outbreak was linked to the Peanut Corp. plant in Blakely, Ga. Investigators say the company knowingly shipped salmonella-laced products after internal tests showed they were contaminated.
State law did not require the company to share those test results.