U.S. lawmakers want tighter food inspection system
The list of recalled peanut products in the .S. surpassed 1,000 in an ongoing national salmonella outbreak; the 2007 recall of melamine-tainted pet food eventually grew to 1,179 products; Congress says current system of food inspection is not working
U.S. Lawmakers vowed Wednesday to press for stronger food safety laws and more money for inspections as the list of recalled peanut products surpassed 1,000 in an ongoing national salmonella outbreak. “There is an openness to putting the together the strongest legislation possible,” said Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-Connecticut), who introduced a bill to reorganize federal food safety enforcement and make it more accountable.
AP’s reports that, meanwhile, the number of recalled peanut products approached 1,100 in what independent experts said appears to be a record for foods consumed by humans.
The 2007 recall of melamine-tainted pet food eventually grew to 1,179 products but “this is human food,” said Caroline Smith DeWaal, food safety director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest. “I’m certainly not aware of any recall where so many individual branded products had to be called back, which makes it really complicated for consumers.”
The salmonella outbreak has sickened at least 550 people, eight of whom have died. A Georgia peanut-processing plant that produces just 1 percent of U.S. peanut products is being blamed. Authorities say Peanut Corp. of America shipped peanut butter, paste and other products that had tested positive for salmonella. The company denies any wrongdoing.
On Wednesday, House Education Committee chairman George Miller (D-California), asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate whether any tainted peanut products were distributed to children through the federal school lunch program. It remains unclear, though, whether Congress can deliver major improvements in food safety this year, given the press of critical issues such as the shaky economy and a ballooning federal deficit. Senior Democrats are dusting off legislation that went nowhere last year and hoping for better luck under President Barack Obama, who has criticized the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) handling of the outbreak.
At least four major bills to reform the food safety system have been, or will soon be, introduced. They have major points in common, but differ in details. All would give the FDA authority to order recalls, which are now voluntary. Reformers also agree that food processing plants should be required to have a safety plan and document their compliance. And there is widespread agreement that standards for imported foods must be upgraded.
There is also consensus that inspections should be carried out according to common requirements, but legislators differ on how frequently checks should be performed. There is agreement on the need for standards for fresh produce, but there are differences over setting up a traceback system to find foods implicated in an outbreak. DeLauro’s bill calls for taking food safety away from the FDA, where it is sometimes seen as a bureaucratic stepchild, and setting up a new Food Safety Administration within the Health and Human Services Department.
William Hubbard, a former FDA associate commissioner, said no reforms can succeed without more money. He says the FDA must double its food safety budget to about $1 billion a year. Even with that, Hubbard warned, the agency would not be able to regularly inspect some 150,000 facilities that produce, ship and store foods. He says the answer is a food safety system in which the FDA sets rules that all players in the food industry must comply with and that states help to enforce.
