Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said yesterday that the Senate is unlikely to take up beleaguered food safety legislation before recessing in October for midterm elections. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) has published a list of objections to S. 510, the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, and is blocking the bill.

While the news of Coburn’s hold-up is disappointing, it’s not surprising. Coburn regularly reaches new heights of obstinacy in a legislative body that has perfected it. He is as unsympathetic as they come. Rumor has it that he spends his spare time stealing from orphanages and tying damsels to train tracks.

But the real antagonist in the food safety bill story is Reid. The Senate leader has had nine months, since the Senate’s health committee reported the bill in December 2009, to secure passage of the bill. Seemingly no progress has been made. It is clear that food safety is simply not a priority for Reid.

Reid would have you believe that he’s helpless in all this. A CQ Politics article quotes Reid as saying, “It’s just a shame that we can’t get this done.”

Of course, Reid isn’t helpless. He is the Senate Majority Leader; he controls the Senate’s agenda. The next sentence in the CQ article:

Reid, D-Nev., could push the bill through the Senate by filing procedural motions to advance the legislation over Coburn’s objections, but doing so would require days of the Senate’s time. 

Days of the Senate’s time…Gasp! Apparently, it’s asking too much of Reid to devote a few days to legislation that will better secure the nation’s food supply, preventing illness and death.

This latest delay is set against the unfortunate backdrop of the largest egg recall in U.S. history. 550 million eggs have been recalled for salmonella contamination. More than 1,500 illnesses have been linked to the eggs. Better regulatory tools and enhanced resources and inspection authority could have helped the FDA prevent the outbreak.

The salmonella episode should have served as a clarion call to Reid to approach food safety with greater urgency ; but as we’ve seen after other foodborne illness outbreaks in recent years, whether from eggs, peanuts, or peppers, the Senate doesn’t get the message.