Food processors and organic growers are split over whether to support the U.S. House-passed food safety bill.

The legislation, passed July 30, would give the Food and Drug Administration increased oversight over food processors and, for the first time, require some produce growers to meet federal safety standards.

Under HR2749, the FDA could also order recalls, and companies would have to maintain records so contaminated food could be more easily traced.

USDA-regulated products such as beef, poultry and eggs are exempt from the bill.

While some opponents vilified the bill in its initial version as “totalitarian control of the nation’s food supply,” some of the bill’s original opponents have commended House members for taking the concerns of organic and small-scale farmers and processors into account.

Connie Kirby, vice president of scientific and technical affairs for the Northwest Food Processors Association, said overall the bill represents much-needed food-safety reform and that the association lends its general support to the bill.

But she also said that while the registration fee for processors in the final version was lowered from $1,000 to $500, that expense, on top of existing state fees, would be a burden for small operations.

Peggy Miars, executive director and CEO of California Certified Organic Farmers, an organic certification and trade association, said she opposes the House bill.

However, she said CCOF supports food-safety legislation as long as it doesn’t duplicate or conflict with what organic farmers and processors already do under the National Organic Program.

Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., sponsor of the bill, told the National Sustainable Coalition that farmers who sell a majority of their product directly to consumers are exempt from paying a fee to FDA.

That also holds true for farmers who manufacture food for sale, as long as they sell the majority – 50.1 percent – of their value-added products to consumers, including sales by mail or over the Internet.

The bill also requires country of origin labeling and disclosure of ingredients.