Harkin to introduce safety legislation for fresh produce
Harkin to introduce safety legislation for fresh produce
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) has pledged to introduce food- safety legislation that will focus solely on fresh produce after the latest spinach recall, this time from Metz Fresh LLC, hit the newspapers last month.
"With the memory of last summer's massive E. coli outbreak in spinach still fresh in our minds, Americans are once again being hit by a large-scale recall of bagged spinach," Sen. Harkin said in an Aug. 30 statement. "For American consumers and producers, it is long overdue for the FDA to exercise more oversight of food-safety practices both in the field and in the processing of produce. Legislation I am working on in the Senate aims to do just that."
The legislation is likely to resemble, but not mirror, his 1999 bill that would have required mandatory food-safety practices for growing and processing fresh produce. The bill could be introduced as early as later this month, said a spokesperson for Sen. Harkin, but the details of the bill are still coming together.
According to congressional staff, the bill would require the Food & Drug Administration to develop and implement mandatory Good Agricultural Practices for growers and Good Manufacturing Practices for producers. The regulations would be tailored to specific commodities and processes, the spokesperson said. The practices would be based on risk assessments which would identify hazards at facilities and for specific commodities, and then proper controls would be implemented based on these hazards.
"This legislation will also require recordkeeping, appropriate sampling and testing for pathogens, inspections based on risk, the development of regulations by FDA to ensure these regulations are followed for imports as well, and it will authorize research on how to prevent, control and respond to pathogenic contamination of fresh produce," the spokesperson wrote in an e- mail.
The chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee was not the only member of Congress who reacted to the spinach recall and not the only member who expressed frustration with the FDA's oversight powers.
"Earlier this year when the Food & Drug Administration submitted a plan to strengthen guidelines for fresh-cut produce, the Department of Health & Human Services rejected it," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), an advocate for overhauling the nation's food-safety regulatory program. "This latest spinach recall is a reminder that the FDA should immediately move forward to create a system for the produce industry that focuses on preventing hazards by applying science-based controls, from raw material to finished product."
"With the memory of last summer's massive E. coli outbreak in spinach still fresh in our minds, Americans are once again being hit by a large-scale recall of bagged spinach," Sen. Harkin said in an Aug. 30 statement. "For American consumers and producers, it is long overdue for the FDA to exercise more oversight of food-safety practices both in the field and in the processing of produce. Legislation I am working on in the Senate aims to do just that."
The legislation is likely to resemble, but not mirror, his 1999 bill that would have required mandatory food-safety practices for growing and processing fresh produce. The bill could be introduced as early as later this month, said a spokesperson for Sen. Harkin, but the details of the bill are still coming together.
According to congressional staff, the bill would require the Food & Drug Administration to develop and implement mandatory Good Agricultural Practices for growers and Good Manufacturing Practices for producers. The regulations would be tailored to specific commodities and processes, the spokesperson said. The practices would be based on risk assessments which would identify hazards at facilities and for specific commodities, and then proper controls would be implemented based on these hazards.
"This legislation will also require recordkeeping, appropriate sampling and testing for pathogens, inspections based on risk, the development of regulations by FDA to ensure these regulations are followed for imports as well, and it will authorize research on how to prevent, control and respond to pathogenic contamination of fresh produce," the spokesperson wrote in an e- mail.
The chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee was not the only member of Congress who reacted to the spinach recall and not the only member who expressed frustration with the FDA's oversight powers.
"Earlier this year when the Food & Drug Administration submitted a plan to strengthen guidelines for fresh-cut produce, the Department of Health & Human Services rejected it," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), an advocate for overhauling the nation's food-safety regulatory program. "This latest spinach recall is a reminder that the FDA should immediately move forward to create a system for the produce industry that focuses on preventing hazards by applying science-based controls, from raw material to finished product."
