Durbin, DeLauro Introduce New Food Safety
Press Release
DURBIN, DELAURO INTRODUCE NEW FOOD SAFETY
BILL IN WAKE OF WIDENING RECALLS
U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) today introduced legislation that will revise and upgrade the nation's food safety system. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), one of the federal agencies charged with safeguarding the U.S. food supply, has come under fire recently in the wake of nationwide recalls and/or quarantines of tainted pork, spinach, peanut butter and pet food.
Durbin and DeLauro's legislation would give the FDA the power to order mandatory recalls of adulterated food products, establish an early warning and notification system for human food, as well as pet food, and establish fines for companies that don't promptly report contaminated products.
"The product recalls that we have seen in the past few weeks - first with pet food and then with food intended for human consumption - have shown us that food-borne illness is a dangerous and real threat in this country," Durbin said. "There are gaps in the inspection, monitoring, notification and enforcement elements of our food system and we must act now to address them. We simply cannot afford to let consumers continue to be the guinea pigs in our food safety system."
"After the countless recalls, alerts and advisories from the past year, along with the latest CDC numbers showing increases in various food-borne illnesses, the evidence is clear our food safety system is collapsing and one of the main agencies charged with protecting it, is asleep," stated DeLauro. "This needs to change immediately - it is time to transform the FDA from the toothless agency it has become to one that takes the proactive steps necessary to protect our food supply and the public health."
Durbin and DeLauro said that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that as many as 76 million people suffer from food poisoning each year. Of those individuals, approximately 325,000 will be hospitalized, and more than 5,000 will die. With emerging pathogens, a population at high risk for food-borne illnesses and an increasing volume of food imports, this situation is unlikely to improve without decisive action.
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