Lawmakers and critics say this bill is a step in the right direction, but a step that should have been taken years ago.

Industry is open to change, said Scott Faber, a top lobbyist for the Grocery Manufacturers Association, which represents large food and beverage companies.

“The food industry recognizes that we need to give FDA new powers and new resources to address new challenges,” Faber said.

Businesses are concerned about reorganizing the entire system. The priority should be strengthening the current agencies before rearranging them, he said.

The GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, recommended two years ago that Congress re-examine the system. It said 76 million people are sickened by food-borne illness each year, and 5,000 die.

But few changes have been made. And despite the salmonella outbreak, even the lawmakers urging changes say a streamlined new agency is unlikely any time soon.

In related News, a study suggests that the FDA should have more oversight on supliments.  More than half of all American adults, or at least 114 million people, use dietary supplements like vitamin pills, diet pills, herbs and energy drinks. But the Food and Drug Administration does not have enough authority to ensure that the products are safe, and it should seek more oversight power, according to a government audit released Tuesday.

In January, the Food and Drug Administration issued a warning on 69 weight-loss products. The agency, however, cannot require manufacturers to remove supplements from shelves.

The new report from the federal Government Accountability Office acknowledged that the F.D.A. had taken some steps in the last few years to supervise the supplement industry more closely — but the report said those steps did not go far enough.

In the first 10 months of last year, for example, the audit said the F.D.A. received 948 reports of health problems associated with dietary supplements, but not necessarily directly caused by them. Those included 9 deaths, 64 life-threatening illnesses and 234 hospitalizations.

Congress requested the evaluation of how the FDA regulates these popular products. The Nutrition Business Journal reports that 79% of adult Americans take dietary supplements.

The GAO listed a number of areas in which the FDA has little oversight. For example, supplement companies don’t have to tell the FDA what products they sell or ingredients they use.

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