Congress Must Act On Food Safety Reform

WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO), Vice Chair of theCommittee on Energy and Commerce, offered the following statement ontoday's Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee Hearing, "How Do We Fix Our Ailing Food Safety System?" .

"Last summer's outbreak of salmonella in jalapenos and the recentoccurrence of contamination in peanuts makes it clear that Congressmust pass comprehensive food safety reform," said DeGette. "I willcontinue to work on the legislation before the Committee that includestwo of my priorities – mandatory recall authority and traceability. TheAmerican people expect government to have the tools and resources toensure the safety of our food supply. I agree with Chairman Waxman thatwe need to do this now – but in the longer term, we must addressstructural changes to our system, such as a unitary agency for foodsafety."

Congresswoman DeGette has reintroduced two major food safety priorities: H.R. 815, the SAFER (Safeand Fair Enforcement & Recall) Food Act, gives the FDA and the USDAthe authority to force a recall of contaminated foods. Under currentlaw, recalls are completely voluntary even when public health is atrisk. The United States is one of the only industrialized countries inthe world that lacks this basic recall power, despite having theability to recall toys and many other products. H.R. 814, the TRACE (Tracingand Recalling Agricultural Contamination Everywhere) Act, requires theSecretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services to establish aproduct tracing system for all food products from their origin to themarket, enabling faster recall in the event of contamination.

The Food and Drug Administration Globalization Act of 2009has been introduced by Chairman Emeritus John D. Dingell (D-MI),Chairman Bart Stupak (D-MI), and Chairman Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ). Themeasure includes a mandatory recall provision built upon legislationintroduced by DeGette, in addition to traceability language.