Olive Recall Shows How Antiquated Food Safety System Is

Press Release

Olive Recall Shows How Antiquated Food Safety System Is

Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn.-3) issued the following statement on the additional warning about potentially tainted olives from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Although no illnesses have been reported, the olives made by Charlie Brown di Rutigliano & Figli S.r.l, of Bari , Italy , may be contaminated with a deadly bacterium, Clostridium botulinum. C. botulinum can cause botulism, a potentially fatal illness. DeLauro is the chairwoman of the House Appropriations Agriculture Subcommittee and co-chair of the Congressional Food Safety Caucus.

"This latest FDA consumer alert shows again how antiquated is our food safety system.

"The FDA lacks the authority to adequately protect our food supply. The manufacturer recalled the olives on March 27, but the FDA waited nearly three weeks before determining that the recall was inadequate and that the company was not doing enough to notify importers with specific instructions. Instead of compelling the manufacturer to intensify their recall efforts, the FDA could only issue a consumer alert on the olives.

"The current food safety system handcuffs the FDA," DeLauro said. "It prevents the agency from protecting consumers adequately by forcing it to rely on voluntary recalls of contaminated foods. This situation is the most recent in a long list of examples of why the FDA needs clear mandatory recall authority."

For three consecutive Congresses, DeLauro and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) have introduced The Safe Food Act - legislation that would create a single food safety agency and implement a food safety program to standardize American food safety activities, which would include giving the FDA recall authority. Under current law, food safety monitoring, inspection and labeling functions are spread across 15 agencies in the federal government that collectively administer at least 30 laws.

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