WASHINGTON, DC – Energy and Commerce Committee Vice Chair Diana DeGette (D-CO) made the following statement regarding a white paper released yesterday by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) entitled, Building a Modern Food Safety System: For FDA Regulated Foods:

“The white paper released by CSPI is a comprehensive document not only laying out the problems associated with our food safety system, but also potential solutions for putting our system back on track.

“I strongly agree with the report’s conclusion that ‘mandatory recall authority would ensure that recalled foods are removed from the market more quickly and effectively’. The report further states that ‘the ability to trace a contaminated product back to the source of production would allow the agency to conduct more rapid and thorough investigations’. As the lead sponsor of legislation that would accomplish both of these goals, I believe CSPI’s analysis bolsters the need for giving the federal government the authority to protect the health of the American consumer.”

CSPI’s white paper endorses DeGette’s food safety legislation as measures that incorporate aspects of CPSI’s reform principles.  Vice Chair DeGette has introducedtwo major pieces of food safety legislation, the SAFER Act [H.R. 3484], giving the government mandatory recall authority, and the TRACE Act [H.R. 3485], establishing a product tracing system for foods. The mandatory recall provisions encompassed in the SAFER Act have been included in the Energy and Commerce Committee’s food safety legislation, H.R. 3610, the Food and Drug Import Safety Act of 2007.