A bipartisan team of lawmakers Tuesday proposed legislation to give the Food and Drug Administration more power and resources to inspect food processed in the United States and abroad.

The legislation comes after a series of scandals the FDA was involved in, the most recent one being the scandal over salmonella-tainted peanut products, which is thought to have killed nine people and infected more than 660 others in 44 states.

At the center of this contamination was a plant in Blakely, Ga., owned by the Peanut Corp. of America and another plant of the same company located in Texas.

“It’s clear that the FDA…the agency charged with protecting nearly 80 percent of our food supply in this nation, simply can’t keep up with the challenge,” Senate Assistant Majority Leader Richard Durbin, a longtime critic of the existing food safety system, said.

Other senators backing the legislation include Democratic Senators Edward Kennedy, Chris Dodd and Amy Klobuchar and Republicans Judd Gregg, Richard Burr, Saxby Chambliss and Lamar Alexander.

The legislation would give the FDA new power to recall products, require food-safety plans from manufacturers and impose regulations on fruits and vegetables most at risk of causing illness.

This is not the first time senators propose food safety overhauls, but they have stalled. Lawmakers are confident that this time will be different.

“There is momentum for this. The simple fact is, that as far as I know, there is no significant opposition to” this bill. “We think there is a likelihood that it will pass,” Gregg said.