DeGette Presses For Strengthening Food Safety System
WASHINGTON – As the nation's food safety system is rocked by anoutbreak of salmonella in tomatoes, Energy and Commerce Committee ViceChair Diana DeGette (D-CO) pressed for comprehensive reform of our foodsafety system by granting the government mandatory recall authoritysupported by a traceability system during the Energy and CommerceSubcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing entitled,"American Lives Still at Risk: When Will FDA's Food Protection Plan BeFully Funded and Implemented?" DeGette's mandatory recall authority isincluded in the Committee's discussion draft, the Food and Drug Administration Globalization Act of 2008. The Washington Post editorialized today in support of DeGette's mandatory recall authority and traceability proposals.
Below is Congresswoman DeGette's opening statement as prepared for delivery:
"Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate your continuing efforts toinvestigate the obviously broken food safety system in this country.
"Little did we know when you scheduled this hearing several weeks agothat it would occur in the middle of yet another nationwide outbreak offoodborne illness.
"The salmonella outbreak in raw tomatoes has now expanded to at least17 states, with 167 people sick and dozens hospitalized. Businessesnationwide have pulled tomatoes from their shelves, leaving tons offood to rot and an entire industry of farmers, employees and smallbusinesses in trouble.
"But the FDA, hobbled by dwindling resources, conflicting missions,cuts in staffing and low morale, has not been able to identify thesource of the contamination.
"Sadly, we've been here before.
"This salmonella outbreak is just the latest in a steady stream ofincidents over the past year. I look forward to hearing from the FDAwhat it has done since it released its "Food Protection Plan" inNovember. While there is much desirable language in that documentabout what needs to be done in the abstract, I hope this hearing willhelp us clarify the specifics about what the FDA will do, how much itwill cost, and give us an update on the tomato outbreak.
"I'd also like to know if the agency has learned anything from previousoutbreaks that it is putting to use in the tomato incident. To befrank, it doesn't sound like it, because we still can't trace thesource of the salmonella contamination in tomatoes.
"I am encouraged that the FDA submitted to Congress this week asupplemental budget request for the agency. I know many members ofthis subcommittee were dumbfounded when this administration originallydenied a need for additional resources, but I'm glad we're all on thesame page now.
"And I hate to sound like a broken record in this subcommittee, butthere is common-sense legislation pending that would create acomprehensive food traceability system so we wouldn't experience delayslike we are seeing in the tomato market at this very moment.
"The events over the past few days have shown once again that the FDAis incapable of quickly identifying the source of contamination when itoccurs. What exists today is a complicated system of going throughrecords of individual companies to locate their suppliers, theirsuppliers' suppliers, wholesalers, distribution centers, processingfacilities, gathering warehouses and farms. This process began in thetomato outbreak back in April.
"Given the advanced technology of today, this information should be easily accessible in an instant. That's what my bill, H.R. 3485, the TRACE Act, would do.
"In fact, traceability is already being done by certain individualcompanies and I want to build upon their successes to form acomprehensive, national system. For example, we all know that UPS andFedEx can instantaneously locate a package anywhere in the world andaccess its status at every stage along its route. In the foodindustry, Dole Foods and many beer distributers can trace theirproducts throughout the supply chain.
"Many small and large businesses have developed high-tech tracingsystems, from bar coding, to GPS, to laser technology. In fact, aColorado company has pioneered a process to laser numerical codes ontoindividual eggs and even food produce like tomatoes, allowing consumersto trace the "farm to fork" distribution from their home computer.
"IBM Consulting is advising its clients that food traceability is asound business investment, given the importance of brand preservationand risk management.
"Exciting things are happening in this field, but sadly the federalgovernment has not gotten on board. Instead, once again, we have asalmonella outbreak in tomatoes, with people getting sick in my homestate of Colorado and across the country, yet the FDA is in its thirdmonth of attempting to trace the source of contamination.
"Obviously it would be best to focus our resources to build qualityinto our food system to make sure contamination never occurs in thefirst place. But we absolutely must have better procedures in place todeal with an emergency of this scale.
"I look forward to hearing from our witnesses this morning. Given thesalmonella outbreak in the news, I would particularly like them all toaddress how we can improve food product traceability in this country.
"Thank you, Mr. Chairman."