Salmonella Outbreak Continues To Spread

July 17, 2008

Lack of a Food Traceability System Results in More Consumers Sick and Still FDA Cannot Determine Source of Contamination

WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO), Vice Chair of theCommittee on Energy and Commerce, today reacted to the ongoingsalmonella outbreak and the continued lack of identification of thesource of the contamination. The outbreak in salmonella first indicatedtomatoes were the source, but now the Food and Drug Administration(FDA) indicates that peppers are also likely.

"It is absolutely outrageous that we are 90 days into the salmonellaoutbreak and the FDA and CDC still cannot determine the source ofcontamination," DeGette said. "Currently, over 1200 cases of salmonellahave been reported, hundreds have been hospitalized, while the outbreakhas affected 42 states, including Washington, DC and even Canada. Thesalmonella outbreak continues to spread, with nearly 30 cases a day,because we do not have a national, comprehensive food traceabilitysystem that would quickly track our foods from the field to the fork.An effective traceback system would allow us to quickly identify thesource of the contamination, while protecting our producers, growers,and distributers whose industries are being devastated. Now the FDAis saying that tomatoes are safe, but only because they have a shortshelf life. We still don't know the source of the contamination, andthat is inexcusable."

U.S. Rep. DeGette has championed and advocated for both mandatoryrecall and traceability since 2002. The mandatory recall authority hasbeen included in the Energy and Commerce Committee's discussion draft, the Food and Drug Administration Globalization Act of 2008. DeGette is also working with the Committee to include traceability, H.R. 3485 as well.