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Chairwoman of the House DeLauro plans FDA import hearings

PORKER

Well-known member
DeLauro plans FDA import hearings
PETER URBAN [email protected]
Article Last Updated: 04/13/2007 10:21:13 PM EDT


WASHINGTON — With the FDA singling out wheat gluten from China as the culprit behind a mass recall of contaminated pet food, Rep. Rosa DeLauro plans to hold a congressional hearing to examine how the agency inspects imported foods.
"We are all aware of the disturbing statistics related to imported foods. The U.S. now imports far more foods than it exports, but there are fewer inspectors for imported foods," said DeLauro, D-3.

The Food and Drug Administration does not require exporting countries to have the same food safety standards as the United States. And the agency inspects less than 1 percent of food imports, DeLauro said.

"Given that the contaminated pet food appears to be connected to wheat gluten imported from China only heightens my concern about the agency's ability to inspect imported products. It is this aspect of the pet food recall crisis that I am particularly troubled about and intend to examine further in a follow-up hearing," she said.

DeLauro, chairwoman of the House Appropriations subcommittee on agriculture, announced her plans in written testimony delivered Thursday to the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on agriculture. That panel held a hearing Thursday on the pet food recall.
 

PORKER

Well-known member
April 23, 2007 Letter to FDA


Commissioner Andrew C. von Eschenbach, M.D.
Parklawn Bldg.
Mail Code: HF-1
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, MD 20856


Dear Commissioner:


We are writing today in light of the recent expansion in the pet food recall. Over the past week, shipments of imported rice protein and corn gluten have been discovered to be contaminated with melamine. In addition, we have learned that the human food supply may be at risk from tainted pet food sold to a hog feeding operation in California.

Once again, our food supply has been put at risk by contaminated ingredients that originated overseas and were never inspected by the FDA. In addition to identifying those companies who were recipients of the contaminated rice protein and have yet to do the right thing by identifying themselves, we request that the FDA begin comprehensive testing and sampling of both rice protein and corn gluten, similar to the testing and sampling performed on wheat gluten. The FDA must assure Congress and the American people that the shipments of rice protein known to be contaminated with melamine imported by Wilbur Ellis and the second unknown importer are the only shipments of contaminated rice protein to reach the United States and that no contaminated corn gluten has reached the United States. Should any additional contaminated rice protein or corn gluten be found, the FDA should take immediate action to identify those companies receiving the contaminated products and press for removal of any contaminated food from the market. Additionally, we request that the FDA conduct comprehensive testing on all pet food about which it has received complaints regarding symptoms of kidney failure in dogs or cats. The FDA's strategy thus far of waiting for companies to self-report contamination and make the individual decision to remove contaminated food in their own time frame has served to increase the number of animals sick and dying and magnify this sad situation.

Repeatedly, American pet owners have been told that products not on the recall list are safe for their pets, only to discover that the recall has expanded and that their pets may still be vulnerable. In order to prevent further contaminated food from reaching our shelves, we are requesting the following of the Food and Drug Administration:

1. Wilbur-Ellis Co., the San Francisco-based company that imported the shipment of contaminated rice protein has said that the shipment was distributed to five pet food manufacturers. Three of those manufacturers have revealed themselves and recalled food, the other two have not. Given the strong possibility that these two pet food manufacturers also received contaminated rice protein and that they have failed to implement voluntary recalls, we believe the FDA should release the names of these manufacturers and require them to trace and recall any pet food made with the potentially contaminated rice protein. If FDA is unable to reveal this information, we ask for a detailed legal explanation.

2. We have learned that in addition to Wilbur-Ellis, a second United States company imported a shipment of rice protein from China that is also likely to be contaminated with melamine. We request the FDA identify this second importer as well as those manufacturers to which it may have sold the contaminated product. Again, we request the FDA closely track this shipment and immediately press the affected companies to recall any food containing the imported rice protein.

3. The FDA has engaged in significant testing and sampling of wheat gluten. Given we now know contaminated shipments of both rice protein concentrate and corn gluten have also been exported from China, we ask the FDA to begin comprehensive testing and sampling of rice protein concentrate and corn gluten immediately.

4. We have seen this recall expand dramatically, both in terms of the number of brands and different products recalled, and in the number of ingredients contaminated. In light of the strong possibility that these protein sources were purposefully contaminated for economic purposes, we are concerned about the safety of other imported pet food ingredients and the possibility of them being contaminated. Accordingly, we ask the FDA to proactively respond by:


Identifying and inspecting all suspect pet food ingredients imported by the U.S. from China and other countries;
Studying the feasibility of testing protein-based pet food ingredients imported from China and other countries for melamine;
Taking steps to work with the Chinese Government and other foreign governments to inspect their facilities and provide technical assistance to improve their food safety standards.
Approximately 63% of Americans own a cat or a dog. The FDA owes the American public their best effort to prevent contaminated food from getting to store shelves and to remove contaminated food that is already on shelves before more pets die. We look forward to the Food and Drug Administration's prompt and complete response to this letter.

Sincerely,
Richard J. Durbin
Untied States Senator


Maria E. Cantwell
Untied States Senator
 

Sandhusker

Well-known member
"The Food and Drug Administration does not require exporting countries to have the same food safety standards as the United States."

And the rationale behind this is......?
 

PORKER

Well-known member
In this case identifying and inspecting all suspect food ingredients imported by the U.S. from China and other countries needs to start now.
 

Econ101

Well-known member
Sandhusker said:
"The Food and Drug Administration does not require exporting countries to have the same food safety standards as the United States."

And the rationale behind this is......?

The rational they have had is "Consumers beware".



These policies are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how our trade negotiators have been incompetent under Fast Track. The last two administrations have bungled our trade treaties so bad, they should be held accountable in some way. It is really sorry to see Japan more aware of their people's food safety than our own government and trade negotiators. I think the negotiators were so dumb as to believe that only price information is important in trade decisions, not integrity of the system that produces it. An F- for the Clinton and Bush trade deals.
 

RobertMac

Well-known member
Econ101 said:
Sandhusker said:
"The Food and Drug Administration does not require exporting countries to have the same food safety standards as the United States."

And the rationale behind this is......?

The rational they have had is "Consumers beware".



These policies are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how our trade negotiators have been incompetent under Fast Track. The last two administrations have bungled our trade treaties so bad, they should be held accountable in some way. It is really sorry to see Japan more aware of their people's food safety than our own government and trade negotiators. I think the negotiators were so dumb as to believe that only price information is important in trade decisions, not integrity of the system that produces it. An F- for the Clinton and Bush trade deals.

The trade deals(as well as the WTO) are there for the good of the multi-nationals...not the individuals of the countries.
 

PORKER

Well-known member
DeLauro Threatens FDA
12:41 PM EDT, April 25, 2007
By DAVID LIGHTMAN, The Hartford Courant WASHINGTON -- An angry Rep. Rosa DeLauro, fed up with what she sees as a Food and Drug Administration reluctant to act quickly and effectively to protect consumers, threatened today to withhold salaries from top FDA officials unless they became more vigilant.

DeLauro, D-3rd District, chairs the House panel that writes the FDA budget, and she said she would "zero out" management pay beginning in the fiscal year that begins Oct .1 if she does not see progress soon.

"There is a pervasive pattern of failure at the FDA," she charged.

FDA officials did not respond to requests for comment. The agency is responsible for about 80 percent of the food supply, and has come under fire lately for not acting quickly to enough to stop tainted pet food, peanut butter, spinach and other products from reaching American homes and consumers.

Its officials boast that it oversees products that cost consumers $1 trillion in 2000, but the cost of all FDA services is less than 2 cents per day.

DeLauro's latest outburst against the agency was triggered by reports this week of how products tied to tainted pet food may have found their way into the human food supply. Hog farms in six states have been either quarantined or are working closely with the FDA, which is testing the products.

The FDA, DeLauro and others have said, needs to be more vigilant. Since becoming chairman of the House agriculture appropriations subcommittee in January, she has repeatedly quizzed FDA officials about their management style.

Today, DeLauro said, she dislikes what she's heard.

FDA should have acted sooner and more aggressively to keep an eye on the food supply. "Our food safety system is collapsing," DeLauro said, "and the very agency charged with fixing it is asleep."

While the FDA may launch investigations of what's gone wrong, it too often is not vigilant in acting to prevent more problems, she said.

"Instead of stepping up and following through with its own investigations," DeLauro said, "the FDA drops the ball." She listed a number of potential remedies, including giving the agency less flexibility to spend money and more direction as to where it should be spent.

She also renewed her bid for a single agency to regulate and enforce food safety laws, a task now shared by 15 different agencies. The FDA, though, is responsible for about 80 percent of the food supply.
 

PORKER

Well-known member
CSPI Urges FDA to Ban Grain Imports from China

American Pets are Serving as "Puppies in the Coal Mine"

WASHINGTON—The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should ban imports of wheat gluten, rice protein, and other grain products from China until the agency can certify that the products are free of chemical or microbial contamination, urged the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). In a letter to FDA commissioner Andrew C. von Eschenbach, CSPI recommended that FDA should also evaluate whether a ban is needed for other foods or ingredients coming from China—the source of the contaminated gluten linked to the largest-ever recall of pet food.

CSPI’s letter comes in the wake of troubling new disclosures that China has denied entry to FDA inspectors investigating the pet food recall. Melamine, the suspected toxin in the pet food, was also recently detected by California authorities in the urine of hogs fed contaminated feed—a development that suggests that the problem could reach the human food supply.

“If U.S. pets must serve as the ‘puppies in the coal mine,’ we urge FDA to heed the warning and take action now to ban grains and other grain products until the Chinese government and producers can guarantee that these imports are free of illegal and dangerous substances,” wrote CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson and CSPI food safety director Caroline Smith DeWaal. CSPI recognizes that while closing the borders to these food imports is a serious action, it is a necessary action for FDA, given its current budget shortfall and lack of food inspectors. FDA inspection staff has actually shrunk by 15 percent since 2003.

The letter was sent to FDA on the eve of oversight hearings in two House committees. The House Energy and Commerce Committee will start hearings today with victims from various outbreaks and industry representatives. In early May, the House Committee on Oversight and Governmental Affairs will hold a hearing at which former FDA commissioners will discuss the funding gaps and their impact on the agency. Additional hearings will follow.

Legislation has also been introduced by Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) to create a unified food agency with modern authorities. Today, unlike the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the FDA does not have programs in place to ensure that exporting countries maintain safety systems equivalent to those in the U.S. USDA also has a far bigger food-safety budget than FDA, even though more people get sick eating FDA-regulated foods. Such disparities are addressed in Durbin and DeLauro’s Safe Food Act by modernizing the food safety laws, which are over 100 years old.
 

PORKER

Well-known member
April 25, 2007 – 6:27 p.m.
Senate Democrat Moves to Expand Federal Food Safety Regulatory Powers
By Catharine Richert, CQ Staff
Following recalls of tainted spinach, peanut butter and pet food, the second-ranking Senate Democrat will seek to bolster Food and Drug Administration food safety operations.

Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin plans to offer an amendment on the Senate floor next week that may include language permitting the FDA to order mandatory recalls of tainted food products and fine companies that don’t promptly report spoiled food, according to an aide.

The Illinois Democrat’s plan to amend the FDA reauthorization bill (S 1082), which is scheduled for Senate debate next week, is part of a renewed push in Congress to strengthen food safety enforcement.


In the House, Connecticut Democrat Rosa DeLauro, who chairs the Appropriations subcommittee that determines spending for the FDA, said she is poised to cut off salaries for the agency’s top managers in the fiscal 2008 spending bill unless officials report immediately how they will improve food inspections, recalls and standards.

“Our food safety system is collapsing, and the very agency in charge is asleep,” said DeLauro, who explained that her spending bill will spell out the FDA food safety activities that will be supported with funding next year.

Durbin and DeLauro for years have pushed to consolidate the government’s food safety functions, which are now shared by numerous agencies, including FDA, the Agriculture Department and the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Durbin has introduced legislation (S 654) that would combine the food safety operations into a single agency. The amendment he plans to offer next week would be a pared-down version of his bill, focusing specifically on FDA problems, an aide said.

Food Safety Regulation
The FDA currently has no authority to order food recalls, but must rely on the industry to voluntarily pull products from the shelves. Still, the agency has drawn criticism for lackluster enforcement of the authority it does have, especially after the recent scares about tainted pet food, peanut butter and fresh spinach.

Citing government documents, the Washington Post reported this week that the FDA knew years ago about contamination problems at a peanut butter plant and the spinach farms that led to disease outbreaks last year.

To address recent pet-food recalls, the agency announced this week that it would test some products containing Chinese vegetable protein for the harmful compound melamine. The compound, which is used in glue and fertilizers, has been linked to the deaths of cats and dogs last month.

The problems with food safety have raised growing concern in Congress in recent weeks.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee heard testimony earlier this week from the food industry, and Senate Agriculture Chairman Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, called for an audit of the nation’s food safety system.

DeLauro — who has introduced House legislation (HR 1148) similar to Durbin’s bill — said the recalls underscore the need to put a single agency in charge of food safety.

She said there are too many opportunities for inspections to fall through the cracks with 15 different agencies and 35 different laws governing food safety.

Durbin said he still supports the concept of a single agency, but is skeptical that Congress can accomplish it under the current administration.

“You cannot hope to achieve that kind of major change unless the president supports it,” he said.

Source: CQ Today
Round-the-clock coverage of news from Capitol Hill.
© 2007 Congressional Quarterly Inc. All Rights Reserved.
 
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