Durbin, DeLauro Renew Effort to Consolidate Food Safety

Durbin, DeLauro Renew Effort to Consolidate Food Safety

Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn.-3) today renewed their effort to consolidate food safety oversight in this country by reintroducing their Safe Food Act - legislation that calls for the development of a single food safety agency and the implementation of a food safety program to standardize American food safety activities. The lawmakers have worked on this effort for over a decade in the Congress and have gained momentum from recent events. Two weeks ago , the Government Accountability Office (GAO) deemed federal oversight of food safety as "high risk" to the economy and public health and safety.

Under current law , food safety monitoring , inspection and labeling functions are spread across 15 agencies in the federal government , including the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) which oversees meat , poultry and egg products; the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which oversees most other food products; and the U.S. Commerce Department's National Marine Fisheries Service which inspects fish. The agencies collectively administer at least 30 laws.

"Our current food safety system has turned into a food fight among dozens of federal agencies. This is politics at its worst where American families rightfully demand our best , " said Durbin. "Congress must summon the political will to protect America 's families with a modern , coordinated food safety agency , and that's what we have set forth in today's bill."

"From the E. coli outbreak that pulled spinach off store shelves to the Taco Bell outbreak that sickened X of individuals , it is clear that our food safety structure is collapsing and endangering public health , " said DeLauro. "The GAO confirmed this by designating the federal oversight of food safety as a high-risk area in need of broad-based transformation to achieve greater effectiveness and accountability. The report notes that the patchwork nature of the federal oversight of food safety calls into question whether the government can plan more strategically to inspect food production processes , identify and react more quickly to any food-borne illness outbreaks. The GAO also questions whether the fragmented structure allows agencies to focus on achieving results to promote the safety and integrity of the food supply. It is long past time for the Congress to pass The Safe Food Act and create a single food safety agency."

Durbin and DeLauro said the involvement of so many agencies can result in duplication of responsibilities , service gaps and inconsistencies and confusion about which agency oversees different types of food. They noted that while FDA , which has jurisdiction over frozen cheese pizza , inspects cheese pizza processors once every 10 years on average; USDA , with responsibility over frozen pepperoni pizza , inspects such processors daily. In another example , eggs still in the shell are under the jurisdiction of FDA , while USDA takes over once the eggs are broken.

The new agency created by the lawmakers' bill - dubbed the Food Safety Administration - would be the first of its kind , free from the entanglements of past regulators who have had to balance food safety with the competing priorities of drug approval or agriculture promotion.

Some of the new responsibilities under the Food Safety Administration include:

* Regular , but random , inspection of all food processing plants.

* Categorized review process for all foods to monitor and inspect them based on their risk , not their name.

* Increased oversight of imported foods.

* Established requirements for tracing foods to point of origin.