FDA tweaks food safety rules due next year

The government is rewriting sweeping new food safety rules after farmers complained that they could hurt business.

The Food and Drug Administration is proposing the revised rules Friday. The FDA is tweaking earlier proposals that included water and soil quality standards that farms big and small say are too burdensome.

Final rules are due next fall. FDA Deputy Commissioner Michael Taylor says the agency is trying to "achieve the goal of food safety in a practical way."

Congress passed the food safety law in 2010. The rules come after major foodborne outbreaks in spinach, peanuts, eggs and cantaloupe.

There are an estimated 3,000 deaths a year from foodborne illnesses.