September 12, 2007 | Posted By Pritzker | Ruohonen | Comments | print this article

Food Safety Bills: Excerpts and Comments

The following are some of the bills in the House and Senate that address problems with food safety brought to light by recent food recalls and foodborne outbreaks.
  1. Establishment of Food Safety Administration.  Both S. 654 and H.R. 1148 (Safe Food Act of 2007) would establish a new and independent Food Safety Administration (FSA).  According to S.654 and H.R.1148, the purpose of the FSA would be to:
    (A) regulate food safety and labeling to strengthen the protection of the public health;
    (B) ensure that food establishments fulfill their responsibility to produce food in a manner that protects the public health of all people in the United States;
    (C) lead an integrated, system-wide approach to food safety and to make more effective and efficient use of resources to prevent food-borne illness;
    (D) provide a single focal point for food safety leadership, both nationally and internationally; and
    (E) provide an integrated food safety research capability, utilizing internally-generated, scientifically and statistically valid studies, in cooperation with academic institutions and other scientific entities of the Federal and State governments, to achieve the continuous improvement of research on food-borne illness and contaminants;
    Under both bills the following would be transferred to the new FSA:
    (1) the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the Department of Agriculture (USDA-FSIS); (2) the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition of the Food and Drug Administration; (3) the part of the Agriculture Marketing Service that administers shell egg surveillance services established under the Egg Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 1031 et seq.); (4) the resources and facilities of the Office of Regulatory Affairs of the Food and Drug Administration that administer and conduct inspections of food establishments and imports; (5) certain resources and facilities of the Office of the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration; (6) the Center for Veterinary Medicine of the Food and Drug Administration; (7) the resources and facilities of the Environmental Protection Agency that control and regulate pesticide residues in food; (8) the part of the Research, Education, and Economics mission area of the Department of Agriculture related to food safety and animal feed research; (9) the part of the National Marine Fisheries Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the Department of Commerce that administers the seafood inspection program; (10) the Animal and Plant Inspection Health Service of the Department of Agriculture; and (11) such other offices, services, or agencies as the President designates by Executive order to carry out this Act.
    This long list of transferred agencies is a reminder of the fragmented state of food safety regulation in the United States. The establishment of the Food Safety Administration is necessary, although consolidation would create new problems.
  2. Establishment of a program requiring a certificate of assured safety for imported food items.  H.R.2997 (Assured Food Safety Act of 2007) would address the current concern regarding food imported from China and other countries.  The bill provides the following safeguards:
    (1) establish requirements for a food item to be issued a certificate of assured safety by the government of the country from which the food item is to be imported into the United States; and (2) prohibit a food item that does not bear a certificate of assured safety from being imported into the United States.Food Import Oversight. U.S. food imports have increased significantly in recent years, raising questions about whether U.S. safeguards, which generally were created at a time when most Americans obtained their foods domestically, sufficiently protect public health.
    Failure to provide an assured level of safety would result in the following:
    (1) PROHIBITION- If a food item fails to provide the level of safety assured in the certificate required under this section for such item, the Secretary and the Commissioner shall prohibit the importation of any food item that is the same type of food, is produced by the same person, and is produced in the same country until the Secretary or the Commissioner, as appropriate--(A) is given an opportunity to inspect the place of production of the food to determine whether appropriate corrections have been made; and (B) determines that such country has taken sufficient steps to identify and correct the failure. (2) HEIGHTENED INSPECTION- For a period of 3 years after removing a prohibition against importation of a food item described in paragraph (1), the Secretary and the Commissioner shall require a heightened inspection of any such food item to provide reasonable assurance to consumers of their safety.
    S.1776 (Imported Food Security Act of 2007) also would establish a certification program.  The bill provides a certification standard:
    Certification Standard- A foreign government or foreign food establishment requesting a certification to import food to the United States shall demonstrate, in a manner determined appropriate by the Secretary, that food produced under the supervision of a foreign government or by the foreign food establishment has met standards for food safety, inspection, labeling, and consumer protection that are at least equivalent to standards applicable to food produced in the United States.
    Given recent foodborne outbreaks in the United States linked to food grown and processed in the United States, it is not necessarily comforting to have the standard be "at least equivalent to standards applicable to food produced in the United States."  S.1776 also has a provision supporting research on testing techniques for inspections of imported food:
    (1) IN GENERAL- The Secretary shall (directly or through grants or contracts) provide for research on the development of tests and sampling methodologies, for use in inspections of food under this section--(A) whose purpose is to determine whether food is adulterated by reason of being contaminated with microorganisms or pesticide chemicals or related residues; and (B) whose results are available not later than approximately 60 minutes after the administration of the tests.
  3. Establishment of a system for tracing meat and poultry.  S.1292 (Meat and Poultry Products Traceability and Safety Act of 2007) states as its purpose:
    To amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry Products Inspection Act to improve the safety of meat and poultry products by enhancing the ability of the Secretary of Agriculture to retrieve the history, use, and location of a meat or poultry product through a recordkeeping and audit system or registered identification, and for other purposes.
    There is also a trace-back provision in S.654 and H.R.1148, the bills that would establish the Food Safety Administration.
  4. Establishment of federal authority to recall unsafe foods.  Generally, neither the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) nor Esta's Food Safety and Inspection Service (SIS) has authority to order a recall of unsafe foods.  S.1274 and H.R.2108 (Human and Pet Food Safety Act of 2007) provide for a mandatory recall of unsafe food if the manufacturer, distributor, or other responsible party does not instigate a voluntary recall.  S.654 and H.R.1148 (the bills that would establish the Food Safety Administration) also provide authority to keep unsafe food from consumers. Under these bills, the new FAA would have the authority to recall unsafe products.  The mandatory recall language in all 4 bills is identical, except for the word "Secretary" in S.1274 and H.R.2108 is replaced with the word "Administrator" in S.654 and H.R.1148:
    MANDATORY ACTIONS- If a person referred to in paragraph (1) refuses to or does not adequately carry out the actions described in that paragraph within the time period and in the manner prescribed by the Administrator, the Administrator shall-- (A) have authority to control and possess the food, including ordering the shipment of the food from the food establishment to the Administrator-- (i) at the expense of the food establishment; or (ii) in an emergency (as determined by the Administrator), at the expense of the Administration; and (B) by order, require, as the Administrator determines to be necessary, the person to immediately-- (i) cease distribution of the food; and (ii) notify all persons-- (I) processing, distributing, or otherwise handling the food to immediately cease such activities with respect to the food; or (II) if the food has been distributed, transported, or sold, to immediately cease distribution of the food.
All of the above bills would improve food safety in the United States. Although the creation of a new food-safety agency is understandably controversial, there is no reason the other bills should not become law.  Contact your federal legislators and tell them you care about food safety and want them to take action.
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