Brown And DeGette Team Up For Safer Foods

July 16, 2008

WASHINGTON – With the recent outbreaks of salmonellaand E. coli, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and U.S. RepresentativeDiana DeGette (D-CO), Vice Chair of the Committee on Energy andCommerce, today sent a letterto both the Senate and House Leadership and Agricultural CommitteeLeadership requesting the expedited consideration of legislation givingthe United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food andDrug Administration (FDA) mandatory recall authority.

Brown and DeGette write:

"We are writing to ask for your expeditedconsideration of the Safe And Fair Enforcement and Recall for (SAFER)Meat, Poultry, and Food Act of 2007 (H.R. 3484 and S. 3267), bills thatwould fix a glaring deficiency in our food safety system. These billswould provide our two chief food safety oversight agencies, the U.S.Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department ofAgriculture (USDA), with the authority to mandate food recalls whennecessary.

"We think most Americans would be alarmed to learnthat the federal government doesn't already have this reasonable powerin their regulatory arsenal. The top priority for both the FDA and theUSDA should be to protect the public's health, a mission that willsometimes require swift and decisive action that will not be toindustry's liking. Mandatory recall authority will ensure that theseagencies have the necessary leverage to demand that those privatecompanies responsible for feeding our nation follow strict safetystandards and that when mistakes are made the public's safety is notcompromised."

Brown and DeGette's legislation, The Safe and Fair Enforcement and Recall for (SAFER) Meat, Poultry, and Food Act of 2007 (S. 3267 and H.R. 3484),gives the USDA and the FDA the authority to mandate recalls of thefoods under their respective jurisdictions. USDA has jurisdiction overmeat and poultry while the FDA has jurisdiction over fruits andvegetables. DeGette's legislation has been included in a discussiondraft that is currently being considered by the Energy and CommerceCommittee food safety proposal, the Food and Drug Administration Globalization Act of 2008. Brown and DeGette introduced the SAFER Act to expedite passage of mandatory recall authority.

"The FDA has asked Congress to provide it withmandatory recall power, and we are heartened by the inclusion of FDArecall authority in various drafts of food safety legislation pendingin both chambers. However, it is imperative that both USDA and FDA begiven this authority, and we cannot afford to continue to put thepublic's health at risk by delaying any further. Please considerpushing for the passage of both H.R. 3484 and S. 3267 as soon aspossible," the letter concludes.

While recalls are currently voluntary at bothagencies, the FDA has requested recall authority be mandatory.Mandatory recall authority would ensure that these agencies have thenecessary leverage to demand that private companies follow strictsafety standards and do not compromise the public's safety in the eventof contamination.

The SAFER Act is one provision of Brown's Food and Product Responsibility Act,sweeping legislation authored by Brown in the Senate to give the FDAand USDA more resources to protect American consumers. In addition toDeGette's SAFER Act, she has also introduced H.R. 3485, the TRACE (Tracing and Recalling Agricultural Contamination Everywhere) Act,giving the FDA and USDA the authority to develop a comprehensive foodtraceability system that tracks foods from the farm to the fork. She iscurrently working to include this bill in the Energy and CommerceCommittee's legislation as well.

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