New Investigation Finds Failing American Food Safety System Causing Millions Of Illness, Gillibrand Introduces New Legislation To Final Establish Mandatory Recall Of Contaminated Meat & Poultry

Press Release

In the wake of a devastating investigation aired last night by PBS' Frontline of the American food safety system and the millions of preventable food-borne illnesses contracted each year, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today introduced the Meat and Poultry Recall Notification Act to finally provide the USDA mandatory recall authority over contaminated meat and poultry. The Frontline report documents the spread of dangerous contaminants through poultry processors and how regulators are failing to prevent the illnesses they cause. An estimated 3 million New Yorkers annually become sick from food they consume, and approximately one in six Americans annual become sick from foodborne disease.

"Our food safety system is failing to protect Americans, leaving thousands of people hospitalized every year with preventable illnesses," said Senator Gillibrand. "Poultry and meat known to be contaminated should never end up in market fridges and freezers or our kitchens. The USDA must have the authority to recall products that test positive for contaminants, and consumers need to know when food has been recalled."

"It is time to treat all bacteria and viruses that sicken U.S. consumers the same," said Bill Marler, one of the nation's leading foodborne illness attorney's. "They should be banned from both imports and from food produced in the U.S. Banning these bugs from our food supply would save both consumers and the food industry billions of dollars in medical and recall costs."

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