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Congress Calls for Single Food Safety Agency

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PORKER

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Congressional Leaders Call for Single Food Safety Agency

CSPI Supports Effort to Modernize Food Safety Laws

WASHINGTON—Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) today introduced legislation to put all food safety responsibilities under a single new Food Safety Administrator. The Safe Food Act also would modernize the 100-year old food safety laws, and give the new chief a unified budget. The legislation is supported by the nonprofit food safety and nutrition watchdog group, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).

The government's finite food safety resources are not equitably split between the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Bush Administration's 2008 budget proposal makes matters worse, according to CSPI. USDA regulates 20 percent of the nation's food supply, and the Administration proposes giving the department $270 million in new money for food safety and security. FDA regulates 80 percent of the food supply, including fresh vegetables like spinach and lettuce, but it will get only $10.6 million in new food safety money, despite being underfunded already.

"The Bush food safety budget defies logic," said Caroline Smith DeWaal, director of food safety at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. "While the budget clearly recognizes the need for more funding for food safety, money is being directed at animal health problems and meat and poultry at the expense of preventing outbreaks from fresh produce."

The Safe Food Act would create a Food Safety Administration, similar to the Environmental Protection Agency, that would take responsibility for food safety and labeling from USDA and FDA. The bill would also establish a comprehensive program to protect public health and bolster consumer confidence in the safety of the food supply. Currently, food safety monitoring, inspection, and labeling functions are spread across 12 federal agencies.

"It makes no sense to have one agency regulate chickens and another regulate eggs, or to have one agency regulate cows and another to regulate milk," said CSPI food safety staff attorney Ken Kelly. "When one cabinet secretary is responsible for pepperoni pizza and another is responsible for cheese pizza, you know something's wrong."

The Safe Food Act would consolidate the activities of various federal agencies responsible for the nation's food supply including USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service; the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition; and the Commerce Department's National Marine Fisheries Service. The bill also includes a traceback provision, gives the new agency recall authority, and requires more frequent inspections to help prevent future E. coli outbreaks.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently designated food safety as one of the high risk federal government programs. Agriculture, including all food production, is about 13 percent of the gross domestic product, and the largest industry in the U.S., according to GAO.

Unsafe food poses a significant burden on consumers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 76 million people suffer from foodborne illness each year, resulting in 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths. Children and the elderly are most likely to experience severe cases of illness and death from foodborne pathogens. Outbreaks, like the one that occurred last fall from tainted spinach, can easily exceed $100 million in damages to both victims and the industry.
 
They need to get rid of the head honcho bureaucrats who play ball with the politicians who ask favors for contributors that negates the agency's mission.

Looks like Bush likes his poultry supporters and his Aphis boys who have not done their job.
 
One Agency, One set of rules with the ability to cut the 5000 deaths per year down to a 1000 per year.All food, feed, and animals will have the FDA traceback records required by Homeland Security nomatter their home country.

As for USDA ,leave them just farming and forest management .
 
Legislation Would Create New Food Safety Agency

February 15, 2007
Food Safety
• Legislation Would Create New Food Safety Agency
• Food Safety Network "Porous" ... At Best
• School Cafeterias Even Worse than You Thought
• FDA Says It's Closer To Finding Source Of E. coli Outbreak
• New Test Detects E. coli, Salmonella Quickly
• FDA Finds No Safety Issues in Meat, Milk from Cloned Animals
• Mystery Illness Closes Indiana Olive Garden
• Lettuce Now Prime Suspect In Taco Bell E. coli Cases
• More ...
---
• Mad Cow Disease Index
• Food Recalls


Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) have introduced legislation to put all food safety responsibilities under a single new Food Safety Administrator.

The Safe Food Act also would modernize the 100-year old food safety laws, and give the new chief a unified budget. The legislation is supported by the nonprofit food safety and nutrition watchdog group, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).

The government's finite food safety resources are not equitably split between the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Bush Administration's 2008 budget proposal makes matters worse, according to CSPI.

USDA regulates 20 percent of the nation's food supply, and the Administration proposes giving the department $270 million in new money for food safety and security. FDA regulates 80 percent of the food supply, including fresh vegetables like spinach and lettuce, but it will get only $10.6 million in new food safety money, despite being underfunded already.

"The Bush food safety budget defies logic," said Caroline Smith DeWaal, director of food safety at CSPI. "While the budget clearly recognizes the need for more funding for food safety, money is being directed at animal health problems and meat and poultry at the expense of preventing outbreaks from fresh produce."

The Safe Food Act would create a Food Safety Administration, similar to the Environmental Protection Agency, that would take responsibility for food safety and labeling from USDA and FDA.

The bill would also establish a comprehensive program to protect public health and bolster consumer confidence in the safety of the food supply. Currently, food safety monitoring, inspection, and labeling functions are spread across 12 federal agencies.

"It makes no sense to have one agency regulate chickens and another regulate eggs, or to have one agency regulate cows and another to regulate milk," said CSPI food safety staff attorney Ken Kelly. "When one cabinet secretary is responsible for pepperoni pizza and another is responsible for cheese pizza, you know something's wrong."

The Safe Food Act would consolidate the activities of various federal agencies responsible for the nation's food supply including USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service; the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition; and the Commerce Department's National Marine Fisheries Service.

The bill also includes a traceback provision, gives the new agency recall authority, and requires more frequent inspections to help prevent future E. coli outbreaks.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently designated food safety as one of the high risk federal government programs. Agriculture, including all food production, is about 13 percent of the gross domestic product, and the largest industry in the U.S., according to GAO.

Unsafe food poses a significant burden on consumers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 76 million people suffer from foodborne illness each year, resulting in 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths.

Children and the elderly are most likely to experience severe cases of illness and death from foodborne pathogens. Outbreaks, like the one that occurred last fall from tainted spinach, can easily exceed $100 million in damages to both victims and the industry.

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2007/02/13/couricandco/entry2468019.shtml
 
AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Final rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is requiring that
manufacturers and processors of human food and cosmetics that are
manufactured from, processed with, or otherwise contain, material from
cattle establish and maintain records sufficient to demonstrate that
the human food or cosmetic is not manufactured from, processed with, or
does not otherwise contain, prohibited cattle materials. These
recordkeeping requirements provide documentation for the provisions in
FDA's interim final rule entitled ``Use of Materials Derived From
Cattle in Human Food and Cosmetics.'' FDA is requiring recordkeeping
because manufacturers and processors of human food and cosmetics need
records to ensure that their products do not contain prohibited cattle
materials, and records are necessary to help FDA ensure compliance with
the requirements of the interim final rule.

DATES: This rule is effective on January 9, 2007.

Full traceback on every animal imported in order to comply will be needed by all packers
 
A report was released Wednesday by the Government Accountability Office that designated Food Safety as a high risk area "because of risks to the economy and to public health and safety." The report finds that: "The current fragmented federal system has caused inconsistent oversight, ineffective coordination, and inefficient use of resources," and they've recommended a fundamental reorganization of the entire system.




"The food safety system is further complicated by the subtle differences in food products that dictate which agency regulates a product as well as the frequency with which inspections occur. For example, how a packaged ham-and-cheese sandwich is regulated depends on how the sandwich is presented. USDA inspects manufacturers of packaged open-face meat or poultry sandwiches (e.g., those with one slice of bread), but FDA inspects manufacturers of packaged closed-face meat or poultry sandwiches (e.g., those with two slices of bread). Although there are no differences in the risks posed by these products, USDA inspects wholesale manufacturers of open-face sandwiches sold in interstate commerce daily, while FDA inspects closed-face sandwiches an average of once every 5 years.
 
COOL will also allow consumers to protect themselves from disease outbreaks, bio-terrorism, and other potential health hazards even if the government still allows imports.

In a Lou Dobbs poll, 98% said that the U.S. government should speed up the process of implementing COOL. Recent polls also found that 80 to 85% of consumers support mandatory labeling for meat, seafood, peanuts, and produce.

Then the COOL law will under one Agency and USDA /APHIS will never check cattle for the food supply again.
 
Congress should conduct hearings to consider:

Production of an E. coli vaccine for cattle.

Irradiation for all mass-produced foods, including produce.

Updating our food safety regulations (given post 9/11 risks).

State and/or federal authority to order product recalls.

Establishment of a single federal agency responsible for all food safety.

Clarification of state agencies' role in the network of defense against food-borne illnesses.

Better funding for state health departments.

Better treatment for victims of E. coli.

Taking these steps will help prevent people from being sickened by eating what is supposed to be good for them.


Paul Nunes is a partner of the Rochester-Buffalo law firm Underberg & Kessler LLP. William Marler is a partner of the Seattle, Wash., law firm Marler Clark LLP.
 
Peanut butter manufacturer sued by Missouri family
SPRINGFIELD, MO (February 16, 2006) – A Salmonella lawsuit was filed Friday in United States District court for the Eastern District of Missouri against ConAgra, the Omaha, Nebraska-based food company whose Georgia peanut butter plant has been traced as the source of a Salmonella outbreak that sickened hundreds. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Buchannan County, Missouri, residents Brian and Susanna Cox and their two children. The Cox family is represented by Seattle-based Marler Clark, the Seattle law firm that has represented thousands of victims of foodborne illness outbreaks, and Springfield, Missouri-based Aleshire, Robb & Sivils.

In the lawsuit, attorneys allege that the Cox family first became ill with symptoms of Salmonella infections in October, 2006 and that both children required medical treatment. Unaware of the association between the consumption of peanut butter and their illnesses, the Cox family continued to purchase and consume Great Value brand peanut butter in the subsequent months. The Cox family first learned of a Salmonella outbreak traced to Great Value brand peanut butter on February 14, 2007, when the Food and Drug Administration announced Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter manufactured in ConAgra's Georgia peanut butter plant had been traced as the source of a Salmonella outbreak among nearly 300 residents of 39 states.

"I've handled claims on behalf of victims of nationwide Salmonella outbreaks traced to tomatoes, cereal, and unpasteurized orange juice, but never peanut butter," said William Marler, managing partner of Marler Clark.
 
PORKER[b said:
"]COOL will also allow consumers to protect themselves from disease outbreaks, bio-terrorism, and other potential health hazards even if the government still allows imports. [/b]

In a Lou Dobbs poll, 98% said that the U.S. government should speed up the process of implementing COOL. Recent polls also found that 80 to 85% of consumers support mandatory labeling for meat, seafood, peanuts, and produce.

Then the COOL law will under one Agency and USDA /APHIS will never check cattle for the food supply again.
Click to expand...

Stooping to a little fear mongering there Porker?

Even if the gov't still allows imports?

So what about the wacked out Americans like Timothy McVeigh who target the domestic food supply instead of blowing up a building. Though I suppose in that case it would be good to know which is poison and domestic and which is imported and safe to eat.
 
Scare Raises Doubts About Food Safety
By MICHAEL SASSO and DAVE SIMANOFF The Tampa Tribune

Published: Feb 16, 2007

TBO.com Site Search | Tribune archive from 1990

TAMPA - Peanut butter, lettuce and bagged spinach.

It's hard to miss the connection. All are foods derived from the ground rather than from animals, and they are thought to be the causes of the past three major U.S. food scares. That might surprise some people, who are more accustomed to E. coli or salmonella outbreaks in chicken or hamburger patties.

On Thursday, retailers in the Bay area and across the nation raced to clear their shelves of jars of Peter Pan and Wal-Mart's Great Value brands of peanut butter, which have been implicated in the latest outbreak of salmonella contamination.

Behind the scenes, there is some debate about whether outbreaks in plant-based foods are just coincidence or a sign of lax oversight of the nation's food safety, particularly the nation's fruits and vegetables.

The federal Government Accountability Office has been pushing the issue lately, designating food safety a "high-risk area" for the first time last month. Congress could be in for a fight, however, if it tries to step up regulations of the agriculture industry. In many cases, the industry regulates itself and may be hesitant to change.

The Food and Drug Administration says consumers should beware of certain Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter jars with product codes that begin with the number 2111. Peter Pan and Great Value are manufactured at a ConAgra Foods plant in Georgia.

The FDA says consumers should discard any such peanut butter purchased since May. The FDA put out a consumer warning this week after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state and local health agencies linked 288 cases of foodborne illness in 39 states to consumption of different Peter Pan varieties.

Florida has not reported any cases of salmonella poisoning from peanut butter consumption, state health officials said Thursday.

Not taking any chances, Sweetbay Supermarket said it pulled 11 varieties of Peter Pan off the shelves, and Publix Super Markets also reported pulling its stock. A Wal-Mart Stores spokesman said that company has withdrawn the affected brands. Con- Agra is offering full refunds to customers who mail in lids with the affected product code. Consumers also can check with local supermarkets where the peanut butter was purchased for questions about refunds.

One thing notable about the peanut butter recall is who initiated it: ConAgra.

In a recent report, the GAO pointed out that food product recalls are not mandated by the federal government. About the only exception is for infant formula, which must be recalled under an FDA mandate. The GAO is calling for the federal government to consider implementing a mandatory recall system, as well as a host of other changes to the food safety system, said Lisa Shames, the GAO's acting director for food and agriculture issues.

Among flaws the GAO found with the food safety system are:

•Different standards. In the U.S. system, the Department of Agriculture oversees safety of meat, poultry and processed egg products. The FDA oversees most other foods, including fruits and vegetables.

The law requires the USDA to inspect all slaughtered meat and poultry carcasses. Inspectors also visit every processing facility at least once a day, GAO's report states. Nothing in the law mandates how often the FDA's inspectors must inspect the foods under its jurisdiction, and it may be up to five years between FDA inspections.

•Lack of funding. In the 2003 fiscal year, the last year for which information was available, the USDA, FDA and two other agencies spent $1.7 billion on food safety activities. Although the FDA is responsible for protecting 80 percent of the nation's food supply, however, it was responsible for only 24 percent of food safety expenditures, the GAO reported.

"There's inconsistent oversight, inefficient use of resources, and it's all because the system has evolved and it's very fragmented," Shames said.

FDA's Brutal Challenge
This week, it was unclear whether there have been more outbreaks of salmonella, E. coli and other pathogens among fruits and vegetables in recent years. A CDC spokeswoman said the agency is hearing anecdotal evidence to support that idea, but the most recent CDC studies suggest that foodborne illness is declining.

Nonetheless, this salmonella outbreak comes just months after two other highly publicized outbreaks of foodborne illness. One involved bagged spinach and affected people across the country. The other involved lettuce served at Taco Bell restaurants in the Northeast.

Some people in the food safety industry say the FDA has a brutal challenge in trying to police food safety in hundreds of thousands of acres of crops.

Bruce Clark, an attorney with the Marler Clark law firm in Seattle, has made a living suing food manufacturers over foodborne illness issues. His clients include people who ate contaminated spinach in the recent E. coli outbreak.

The spinach outbreak shows how easy it is for pathogens to creep into the food supply: The spinach farm responsible was not far from a cattle farming operation. Wild pigs began rooting around in the cow manure and transported bacteria from the manure into the spinach fields, Clark said. Both E. coli and salmonella are found in animal feces.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture has helped develop an agreement in which the state's spinach and lettuce processors promise to adhere to the best practices to prevent future foodborne illness problems. The agreement is voluntary, however, agency spokesman Steve Lyle said. A California legislator is pushing for stricter mandatory rules.

Crop System Defies Testing, Expert Says
While some critics target the FDA, one well-known food safety expert in Florida partly defended the agency Thursday. Doug Archer is a former FDA official who is now associate dean for research at the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

The USDA does employ meat inspectors at processing plants, but they largely are looking for visible signs of trouble, such as bruising on an animal's flesh or dirty conditions. They aren't doing studies on microorganisms, he said. Having more FDA inspectors might help, but the nation's crop system is far too big and too decentralized to do much microscopic testing, he said.

Plus, "FDA has not had budget increases, and they have not had the funding to do the job - ever," Archer said.

Despite the recent food safety concerns, one food industry official insists that manufacturers have made great strides in safety since the 1960s. That's when companies began adopting and adapting quality control programs from other industries, said Jenny Scott, vice president of food safety programs at the Grocery Manufacturers Association and the Food Products Association.

"Whenever a problem like this occurs, the industry takes this as a lesson to learn what they can about the problem and make changes if changes are necessary," she said.

Reporter Kurt Loft and researcher Michael Messano contributed to this report. Reporter Michael Sasso can be reached at [email protected] or (813) 259-7865.
 
Of course self regulation has put the food safety issue on the consumer, not the processors. They have manipulated the system to the detriment of the consumer. Consumers have a tougher job making their case because, in this case, they are not on an all peanut butter diet. Thus the processors are trading liability and food safety for lower costs. The USDA/FDA loopholes/non enforcement have created a food safety risk for consumers.

The same thing happens when we import food not regulated for food safety.
 
The same thing happens when we import food not regulated for food safety.Bill Quote

Say Bill ,did Canada have any of that peanut butter,How about that ecoli spinach.


latest ;FDA Warns Consumers Not to Use Wild Kitty Cat Food Due to Salmonella Contamination
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning consumers not to purchase, or use, Wild Kitty Cat Food due to the presence of Salmonella, a pathogen. During routine monitoring activities, FDA collected and analyzed a sample of frozen raw Wild Kitty Cat Food and detected Salmonella in the product. Cats and other pets consuming this food may become infected with Salmonella. People can also become infected with Salmonella if they handle or ingest this cat food, touch pets that consumed the food, or touch any surfaces that came into contact with the food or pets.
 
Yes, but is there one company that could provide tracking from the field to the consumer? Or will the Government have us use some broken down backward system like they have with SSI and so forth.

DagFlorida
 
The last major outbreak of salmonella food poisoning in the United States was in November and was linked to tomatoes. It made 183 people ill in 22 states and Canada.

Every year, approximately 40 000 cases of salmonellosis are reported in the United States and about 600 people die of it, according to the CDC.

Consumer groups have been complaining about federal food safety efforts, saying the various agencies involved, including FDA, CDC and the US Department of Agriculture, do not work together well enough.

"If we cannot protect the nation's supply of peanut butter, one must ask how prepared we are for a terrorist attack on our nation's food supply," Michigan Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak said on Friday.

"As chairman of the House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, I have already been working with Commerce Committee chairman (John) Dingell to open an investigation into the adequacy of the FDA's efforts to protect our nation's food supply."
 
like they have with SSI and so forth.

DagFlorida

Are you talking about the Social Security Admin. ? Where the prisoners and illeagals get paid to stay in the US ?
 
PORKER said:
like they have with SSI and so forth.

DagFlorida

Are you talking about the Social Security Admin. ? Where the prisoners and illeagals get paid to stay in the US ?
Click to expand...

Social Security Administration would be SSA

If you can't even keep acronyms straight how can you track cows?
 
HEALTH HAZARD ALERT
DOLE BRAND CANTALOUPES MAY CONTAIN SALMONELLA BACTERIA
OTTAWA, February 16, 2007 - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is warning the public not to consume the Dole brand cantaloupes described below because these cantaloupes may be contaminated with Salmonella.

The affected cantaloupes, produce of Costa Rica, were distributed under the Dole brand name. However, individual cantaloupes do not have any markings. These cantaloupes were sold from February 9 up to and including February 16, 2007, in Quebec.

Consumers who have purchased whole cantaloupe or in-store products containing pieces of fresh cantaloupe and are not sure of the brand should inquire at the place of purchase to verify if the stores have received the affected product.

There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of these cantaloupes.

Food contaminated with Salmonella may not look or smell spoiled. Consumption of food contaminated with this bacteria may cause salmonellosis, a foodborne illness. In young children, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems, salmonellosis may cause serious and sometimes deadly infections. In otherwise healthy people, salmonellosis may cause short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Long-term complications may include severe arthritis.

The importer, Fruits et Légumes, Gaétan Bono, Montreal, Quebec, is voluntarily recalling these cantaloupes. The CFIA is monitoring the effectiveness of the recall.

For more information, consumers and industry can call the CFIA at :

1-800-442-2342 / TTY 1-800-465-7735 (8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, Monday to Friday).

For information on Salmonella and food safety facts for cantaloupes, visit the Food Facts web page at :
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/concen/cause/salmonellae.shtml
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/concen/specif/cantae.shtml
 
mmmm sorry but if you check your paystub it is SSI social security income, Social Security Agency uses SSI because SSA is used for Secret Service Agency long before Social Security.
 

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