Congress Food safety regs past due date

San Bernardino Sun Editorial


Federal lawmakers are poised to take action on long-awaited legislation that would better protect the public from tainted food.


It's about time.


It is unconscionable that consumers have had to endure a disgusting litany of contamination incidents - spinach, peanut butter and eggs, to name a few - before Congress was prompted to action.


The bill that the Senate is set to vote on today calls for more frequent inspections of processing plants. It also would give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which regulates 80 percent of the country's food supply, the ability to order recalls of contaminated products.


Currently, the government can only ask that companies pull tainted goods off shelves; it cannot require it.


The measure would require food processors to have plans in place to identify and address contamination risks. These plans would be available for inspection by the FDA.


And it would mandate that food importers verify the safety of all foods they bring into the country. It gives the FDA authority to require certification for imported foods at a high risk of contamination.


One of the raps against the Senate's earlier version of the bill was that it would impose too harsh a burden on small farmers in an attempt to address problems caused by large agribusiness companies.


A sensible agreement pushed by Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., addresses those concerns. It would give small, local farms a less costly way of meeting certain planning requirements.



A small farm is defined as one that sells at least half its products to stores, restaurants and consumers within its state or within 275 miles of the farm, and has a gross annual income of less than $500,000.


Food production regulation should not be a one-size-fits-all proposition, and it makes sense to us to make accommodations for smaller producers so long as safety is not compromised. The FDA could revoke the exemption for any small farm involved in a contamination outbreak.


The House passed a version of the bill last year with broad bipartisan support. Given today's climate on government spending, lawmakers must find a way to pay for increased government inspections called for in the food safety act.


But there is already a large cost: A report by the Produce, under the auspices of the Pew Charitable Trusts at Georgetown University, estimates annual costs at $152 billion for health-related foodborne illness.


The FDA is operating under laws written more than seven decades ago, at a time when food contamination didn't present the same sort of complications it does now. It is time to update these laws to better match the way food is produced and consumed today.



Courtesy of SB Sun