HR 2749, Food Safety Enhancement Act, Will Better Protect Families From Contaminated Food

Washington, D.C.--Congressman Eliot Engel today voted in favor of H.R. 2749, the Food Safety Enhancement Act, to provide increased protections for the nation’s food supply, in light of recent outbreaks of food-borne illnesses. The legislation passed the full House by a vote of 283 to 142.

“The tragedy of the Peanut Corporation of America salmonella crisis this past winter gave us the impetus to fix our broken food safety system. The peanut scare came on the heels of recent outbreaks linked to spinach, lettuce, tomatoes and peppers,” said Rep. Engel, who has highlighted the need for better food safety protection for several years. “Last year, an AP poll stated that 46 percent of people were frightened they would get sick from tainted food. Each year, 76 million Americans are sickened by contaminated food. That is slightly more than the estimated combined 2008 populations of New York, California and Florida, according to www.census.gov.”

Rep. Engel continued, “Approximately 5,000 of those stricken die from their illnesses. Those are staggering numbers greater than the amount of Americans killed on 9/11. It was clear that Congress had to act.”

The bipartisan bill strengthens the regulatory powers of the traditionally weak U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The Agency’s authorities have been outdated for too long and have had limited resources. This legislation changes that and better empowers them to clean up the system and identify the sources of potential future contamination.

Among the new authorities of the FDA granted in this bill:

• Up-to-date registry of all domestic and foreign food facilities selling to Americans, including a $500 registration fee.
• Increased inspections of food processing facilities, including increased frequency for high-risk locations (once every 6-12 months).
• Food trace-back system. Enables the FDA to identify the history of the food in a short timeframe, to pinpoint the source of food-borne illnesses and more effectively inspect imported food.
• Better access to records. Under current law, the FDA must wait for food-borne illnesses to occur before the agency can access records. This measure gives them access during routine inspections.
• Stronger penalties for lack of compliance, including the authority to order a recall if a company fails to do so when requested.
• Country of origin labeling.

“One of the most important aspects of this legislation is the new focus on prevention and the shared responsibility in protecting our families from potentially life-threatening illnesses by both the FDA and the food manufacturers. The focus is to stop outbreaks from occurring rather than deal with their aftermath. Historically, we have set the FDA up to fail. Now we can finally target the spots along the farm to store chain where contamination has been taking the lives of far too many Americans,” said Rep. Engel.