Changes to help industry suggested at congressional food safety hearing
Changes to help industry suggested at congressional food safety hearing
WASHINGTON -- The Food & Drug Administration has the authority to regulate the produce industry, but it needs sufficient funds, staffing and research dollars to do the job, Tom Stenzel, president of United Fresh Produce Association, said at a Feb. 8 hearing on Capitol Hill.
At the first of a series of food-safety hearings planned in the powerful House Appropriations subcommittee, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) explored whether the current system needs to be overhauled to prevent future recalls and outbreaks.
Although the industry handles over a billion servings of fresh produce daily, "we also know that consumers today are walking into grocery stores and restaurants with new concerns, new doubts and sometimes fear about produce," said Mr. Stenzel. "They don't understand those statistics; they don't know what farmers and processors are doing to protect the safety of their produce; and most important, they do not have complete confidence that government is doing all it should to protect their health."
Federal funding for food safety research is "woefully inadequate," Mr. Stenzel said, adding that little to no funds have been spent on mitigating contamination of fresh produce in the field or on postharvest pasteurization techniques.
The problem, said General Accounting Office Comptroller David Walker, is that there are "too many layers [of bureaucracy] and way too many players" overseeing food safety.
For the first time, GAO, an arm of Congress, listed food-safety regulation as high-risk or in need of an overhaul that could include combining all 15 federal agencies with food safety control into a single agency.
U.S. Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA), who represents the hard-hit Salinas Valley, said that "first responders" who have authority over restaurant inspections, water quality and other matters, should play a significant role.
When asked about United Fresh's new policy embrace of national food-safety standards, Mr. Stenzel replied, "We think we have to." He told Rep. Farr that his growers are doing it already in California.
"But some are kicking," said Rep. Farr.
"If they don't like it, they can't be in business," replied Mr. Stenzel, adding that the industry cannot tell consumers to trust it and then not support strong federal oversight.
On Feb. 8, Rep. Farr introduced legislation to aid spinach producers suffering from last year's E. coli 0157:H7 outbreak. H.R. 912, the Spinach Research & Recovery Act, would authorize $26 million for food-safety research and emergency assistance to producers and handlers of fresh spinach.
Another problem, said Michael Taylor, former head of the Food Safety & Inspection Service, is that FDA's budget is at "embarrassingly low levels." And because no federal agency has authority on the farm, "no one is in charge of the E. coli problem," he said.
"We have a serious food-safety problem that originates on the farm in the gut of cattle and other animals and then spreads across the food supply to meat and produce, without regard to agency jurisdictions," said Mr. Taylor.
A meat industry representative said that the federal HACCP program and the industry's decision to make food safety a non-competitive issue, meaning companies could share this information, reduced the incidence of E. coli in ground beef.
But the American Meat Institute's Mark Dopp cautioned the subcommittee that oversees funding for federal food-safety programs about reorganizing the agencies.
"Before any such changes occur, we want to be sure that they accelerate -- not derail -- food-safety programs and public health outcomes," said Mr. Dopp.
At the first of a series of food-safety hearings planned in the powerful House Appropriations subcommittee, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) explored whether the current system needs to be overhauled to prevent future recalls and outbreaks.
Although the industry handles over a billion servings of fresh produce daily, "we also know that consumers today are walking into grocery stores and restaurants with new concerns, new doubts and sometimes fear about produce," said Mr. Stenzel. "They don't understand those statistics; they don't know what farmers and processors are doing to protect the safety of their produce; and most important, they do not have complete confidence that government is doing all it should to protect their health."
Federal funding for food safety research is "woefully inadequate," Mr. Stenzel said, adding that little to no funds have been spent on mitigating contamination of fresh produce in the field or on postharvest pasteurization techniques.
The problem, said General Accounting Office Comptroller David Walker, is that there are "too many layers [of bureaucracy] and way too many players" overseeing food safety.
For the first time, GAO, an arm of Congress, listed food-safety regulation as high-risk or in need of an overhaul that could include combining all 15 federal agencies with food safety control into a single agency.
U.S. Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA), who represents the hard-hit Salinas Valley, said that "first responders" who have authority over restaurant inspections, water quality and other matters, should play a significant role.
When asked about United Fresh's new policy embrace of national food-safety standards, Mr. Stenzel replied, "We think we have to." He told Rep. Farr that his growers are doing it already in California.
"But some are kicking," said Rep. Farr.
"If they don't like it, they can't be in business," replied Mr. Stenzel, adding that the industry cannot tell consumers to trust it and then not support strong federal oversight.
On Feb. 8, Rep. Farr introduced legislation to aid spinach producers suffering from last year's E. coli 0157:H7 outbreak. H.R. 912, the Spinach Research & Recovery Act, would authorize $26 million for food-safety research and emergency assistance to producers and handlers of fresh spinach.
Another problem, said Michael Taylor, former head of the Food Safety & Inspection Service, is that FDA's budget is at "embarrassingly low levels." And because no federal agency has authority on the farm, "no one is in charge of the E. coli problem," he said.
"We have a serious food-safety problem that originates on the farm in the gut of cattle and other animals and then spreads across the food supply to meat and produce, without regard to agency jurisdictions," said Mr. Taylor.
A meat industry representative said that the federal HACCP program and the industry's decision to make food safety a non-competitive issue, meaning companies could share this information, reduced the incidence of E. coli in ground beef.
But the American Meat Institute's Mark Dopp cautioned the subcommittee that oversees funding for federal food-safety programs about reorganizing the agencies.
"Before any such changes occur, we want to be sure that they accelerate -- not derail -- food-safety programs and public health outcomes," said Mr. Dopp.
