Pet food recall spurs Senate to pass major food safety changes
Pet food recall spurs Senate to pass major food safety changes
WASHINGTON -- Daily headlines on the widening pet food recall pushed the U.S. Senate to pass a prescription drug safety bill May 9 that would give the Food & Drug Administration new, far-reaching authority over food safety.
By a vote of 94-0, the Senate approved an amendment that would establish an early warning and notification system for human and pet foods, establish fines for companies that don't promptly report contaminated products, improve inspections and monitoring of imports, and set pet food safety standards.
"We're concerned about it," said Robert Guenther, senior vice president of public policy for the United Fresh Produce Association, based here. It shows how frustrated Congress is with FDA's food safety record, he added. "Status quo is not acceptable and they want action."
At issue is the bill's new adulterated food registry, which would require FDA to collect information on cases of potentially dangerous food adulteration or suspected adulteration on all FDA-regulated foods.
Importers and U.S. food companies would have to submit information on reported cases to FDA, and then the agency would maintain that information on an easy-to-access centralized database.
The registry may pose a problem to all food companies because "anyone could call in and claim they got sick from any product," said Mr. Guenther, who added that the system is not based in science.
"With the passage of this amendment, we will make our nation's food safety system stronger on several fronts," Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL), who has been advocating for a single federal food safety agency for years, said in a statement.
One component of the amendment, which was also offered by Sens. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Mike Enzi (R-WY), is aimed directly at the produce industry.
It would require FDA to help states write safety programs for fresh and processed produce. FDA should help states establish state food-safety programs, "especially with respect to the regulation of retail commercial food establishments," and establish requirements that ensure processed produce is not unsafe for human consumption, said the Senate-passed amendment.
It is unclear whether the bill would encourage FDA to help facilitate 50 different state food-safety programs, which is strongly opposed by the produce industry.
"We'll be working on that closely as well," said Mr. Guenther. "We're hoping to improve the bill."
The prescription drug bill passed the Senate on May 9 and has yet to reach the House floor.
Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI) also included language in the bill that would allow FDA to shut down imports from foreign companies if an exporter delays access or does not cooperate with FDA inspectors. The lawmaker offered the amendment when it was disclosed that FDA inspectors were forced to wait two weeks before the Chinese government would grant them access in the pet food scandal.
"If an exporter does not want to let the FDA inspect its firm -- on FDA's schedule -- that exporter can't ship to this country. It is that simple," Sen. Kohl said on the Senate floor. "For the vast majority of firms and countries, this is not a problem. But for those times it is needed, it will be an important tool."
Earlier this year, Sen. Kohl held a congressional hearing in Wisconsin on produce-related outbreaks, calling for additional research and rapid response teams to prevent future incidents.
While food safety continues to dominate the news, the agriculture industry is trying to remind Congress of the dire conditions for labor-starved produce growers. More than 130 agricultural business leaders were scheduled to descend on Capitol Hill May 16 to lobby on immigration reform as Senate leaders have vowed to bring comprehensive immigration reform to the Senate floor this month.
United Fresh, U.S. Apple Association and other groups are working with the National Council of Agricultural Employers and the Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform to pass AgJOBS or the Agricultural Jobs, Opportunity, Benefits & Security Act.
The White House is in daily negotiations with Senate Republicans and Democrats to hammer out a comprehensive immigration reform bill, said NCAE Executive Vice President Sharon Hughes.
"We've already hammered out a bipartisan bill with AgJOBS," she said.
The U.S. House is expected to bring up the issue this summer, but if nothing gets passed by the end of July agriculture groups plan to push for the stand- alone AgJOBS bill to help prevent a further labor crisis, said Ms. Hughes.
By a vote of 94-0, the Senate approved an amendment that would establish an early warning and notification system for human and pet foods, establish fines for companies that don't promptly report contaminated products, improve inspections and monitoring of imports, and set pet food safety standards.
"We're concerned about it," said Robert Guenther, senior vice president of public policy for the United Fresh Produce Association, based here. It shows how frustrated Congress is with FDA's food safety record, he added. "Status quo is not acceptable and they want action."
At issue is the bill's new adulterated food registry, which would require FDA to collect information on cases of potentially dangerous food adulteration or suspected adulteration on all FDA-regulated foods.
Importers and U.S. food companies would have to submit information on reported cases to FDA, and then the agency would maintain that information on an easy-to-access centralized database.
The registry may pose a problem to all food companies because "anyone could call in and claim they got sick from any product," said Mr. Guenther, who added that the system is not based in science.
"With the passage of this amendment, we will make our nation's food safety system stronger on several fronts," Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL), who has been advocating for a single federal food safety agency for years, said in a statement.
One component of the amendment, which was also offered by Sens. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Mike Enzi (R-WY), is aimed directly at the produce industry.
It would require FDA to help states write safety programs for fresh and processed produce. FDA should help states establish state food-safety programs, "especially with respect to the regulation of retail commercial food establishments," and establish requirements that ensure processed produce is not unsafe for human consumption, said the Senate-passed amendment.
It is unclear whether the bill would encourage FDA to help facilitate 50 different state food-safety programs, which is strongly opposed by the produce industry.
"We'll be working on that closely as well," said Mr. Guenther. "We're hoping to improve the bill."
The prescription drug bill passed the Senate on May 9 and has yet to reach the House floor.
Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI) also included language in the bill that would allow FDA to shut down imports from foreign companies if an exporter delays access or does not cooperate with FDA inspectors. The lawmaker offered the amendment when it was disclosed that FDA inspectors were forced to wait two weeks before the Chinese government would grant them access in the pet food scandal.
"If an exporter does not want to let the FDA inspect its firm -- on FDA's schedule -- that exporter can't ship to this country. It is that simple," Sen. Kohl said on the Senate floor. "For the vast majority of firms and countries, this is not a problem. But for those times it is needed, it will be an important tool."
Earlier this year, Sen. Kohl held a congressional hearing in Wisconsin on produce-related outbreaks, calling for additional research and rapid response teams to prevent future incidents.
While food safety continues to dominate the news, the agriculture industry is trying to remind Congress of the dire conditions for labor-starved produce growers. More than 130 agricultural business leaders were scheduled to descend on Capitol Hill May 16 to lobby on immigration reform as Senate leaders have vowed to bring comprehensive immigration reform to the Senate floor this month.
United Fresh, U.S. Apple Association and other groups are working with the National Council of Agricultural Employers and the Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform to pass AgJOBS or the Agricultural Jobs, Opportunity, Benefits & Security Act.
The White House is in daily negotiations with Senate Republicans and Democrats to hammer out a comprehensive immigration reform bill, said NCAE Executive Vice President Sharon Hughes.
"We've already hammered out a bipartisan bill with AgJOBS," she said.
The U.S. House is expected to bring up the issue this summer, but if nothing gets passed by the end of July agriculture groups plan to push for the stand- alone AgJOBS bill to help prevent a further labor crisis, said Ms. Hughes.
