Does the Food Safety Enhancement Act Need Reform?
August 5, 2009 -- After multiple recalls of such food items as spinach, tomatoes and peanut products, a major step toward reform was made last week when the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to improve the safety of food in the global market.
Now in the hands of the U.S. Senate and if signed into law by President Obama, the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009, H.R. 2749, would increase the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) authority in food production inspections, developing new enforcement measures and tracking food recalls. Specifically, the bill states the following, among other revisions:
1. Food facilities are required to conduct a hazard analysis; implement preventive controls; and implement a food safety plan.
2. The Secretary of Health and Human Services is required to issue science-based performance standards to minimize the hazards from foodborne contaminants; establish science-based standards for raw agricultural commodities; inspect facilities at a frequency determined pursuant to a risk-based schedule; establish a food tracing system; assess fees relating to food facility reinspection and food recall; and establish a program for accreditation of laboratories that perform analytical testing of food for import or export.
Now in the hands of the U.S. Senate and if signed into law by President Obama, the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009, H.R. 2749, would increase the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) authority in food production inspections, developing new enforcement measures and tracking food recalls. Specifically, the bill states the following, among other revisions:
1. Food facilities are required to conduct a hazard analysis; implement preventive controls; and implement a food safety plan.
2. The Secretary of Health and Human Services is required to issue science-based performance standards to minimize the hazards from foodborne contaminants; establish science-based standards for raw agricultural commodities; inspect facilities at a frequency determined pursuant to a risk-based schedule; establish a food tracing system; assess fees relating to food facility reinspection and food recall; and establish a program for accreditation of laboratories that perform analytical testing of food for import or export.
3. The Secretary of Health and Human Services is also authorized to order an immediate cessation of distribution, or a recall, of food; establish an importer verification program; and quarantine food in any geographic area within the United States.
In response, GMA President and CEO Pamela G. Bailey said: "This legislation will strengthen our nation's food safety net by placing prevention as the cornerstone of our nation's food safety strategy and providing FDA with the resources and authorities it needs to adequately fulfill its food safety mission. Combined with increased industry resources and vigilance, this legislation represents a once in a lifetime opportunity to modernize our food safety system and restore the public's faith in the safety and security of the food supply."
Kathy Means, vice president of government relations for the Produce Marketing Association (PMA), concurred in a recent Progressive Grocer article : "We are pleased to see that the proposed guidance reflects the substantial work that has already been done by commodity groups over the last several years, as well as the numerous discussion that industry experts including PMA have had with the agency, especially since the Obama administration took office. This reflects the new, more collaborative way of working with stakeholders that the new FDA leadership has been promising."
Yet, some industry groups and advocates have criticized the bill for imposing the same rules on small farmers as it does on large food and beverage giants.
Prior to the bill's passage, the Pete Kennedy, Esq., president, Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, said "HR 2749 would impose a one-size-fits-all regulatory scheme on small farms and local artisanal producers; and it would disproportionately impact their operations for the worse."
Gourmet magazine's contributing editor Barry Estabrook also expressed skepticism: "There is no doubt that our food-safety system is broken. But with the vast majority of disease outbreaks coming from industrial-scale operations, legislators should have fixed the problems there instead of targeting small, local businesses that were never part of the problem in the first place."
Should the bill become law, government funds of $3.5 billion will be allocated to facilitate the revisions, partially funded by a $500 annual tax on food producers.