Food Safety Enhancement Act HR 2749 Passes on Second Try, Consumer Advocates Relieved
Consumer advocates breathed a sigh of relief today as the House took a major step towards FDA reform by passing H.R. 2749, The Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009.
After the provision fell just short of the supermajority needed under a suspension of the rules yesterday, the bill passed easily (283-142) under a closed rule.
Caroline Smith DeWaal, Food Safety Director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, released a statement hailing the passage of the bill. “FDA has been operating under the same law for 70 years and can do little more than respond to outbreaks after the fact. This bill gives the FDA more authority and real enforcement teeth to help prevent more outbreaks, illnesses, and deaths.”
“I think it’s a credit to the hard work of a lot of people and yeomen’s work of 3 years of hearings,” said Toni Corbo of Food & Water Watch. “It took a coalition of consumer groups to really put this issue on the front burner for this session.”
Corbo also was quick to add that the bill’s success was a tribute to the victims of foodborne illness, noting that the family members of lost ones played a key role in shoring up support for the measure.
Food Safety Advocate Bill Marler followed the debate and vote closely. “It was great to see consumers, producers and manufacturers come together to support the first real food safety legislation in 50 years,” he said. “Now, however, the real work comes in working with the Senate and eventually a Conference Committee before it lands on the President’s desk.”
After meeting with over 200 members of Congress and over 80 Senators, Pat Buck, executive director of the Center for Foodborne Illness Research & Prevention whose grandson, Kevin, died from eating an E. coli-tainted hamburger, was ecstatic over HR 2749’s success. “This was a victory for the consumer today, it really was.”
“It is very exciting. It shows me that, finally, the very people who should be taking leadership are acting in a timely fashion. Congress is really responding to a 21st century need.” Buck stressed the importance of today’s success, adding that some advocates were worried food safety would not have received another chance in the 111th Congress had HR 2749 failed.
Though HR 2749 was a key success, it only marks the beginning of a long fight to bring legislation to President Obama’s desk.
“This is the first step,” said Corbo, who noted that Food and Water Watch would work hard to ensure a similar bill in the Senate in the face of a legislative agenda dominated by health care reform and appropriations bills. “It’s quite an agenda. We’re going to make sure food safety is in the queue before the end of the year. We need this legislation on the books so FDA can do its job properly.”
The food safety bill continues to garner broad support from consumer, health, and industry groups and it is expected to come before the Senate this fall.
Click to see the final text of the bill - HR 2749 - PDF.
Click to see the final roll call vote for The Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009.
concerns remained:
1) the unprecedented and sweeping authority granted to FDA—access to records without cause, the authority to regulate farming practices, and ability to impose substantial criminal and civil fines without a showing of harm;
2) the lack of protection for small, organic and diversified farms—regulations created for large industrial facilities will financially ruin smaller operations;
3) a flat $500 annual registration fee whether making jam in your kitchen to sell within your community or if General Mills selling worldwide.
IT DOESN'T MATTER NOW. The clowns passed it without knowing what was in it - as usual.
Apparently you seem to be clueless as to what the passage of this bill actually portends. It isn't the organic farmers and manufacturers of QUALITY health products who are the problem. It is the government of the American People who have made it their goal to undermine our health for at least the last 100 years or more by attempting to prevent access to these foods and products.
While it is all well and good to charge the FDA with actually doing the job they were initially hired to do, the draconian measures which have been instituted may very well have a severely adverse effect on us all. Which means that these measures will backfire on you and your loved ones, as well.
obviously this magazine is a front for Big Agra and Big Pharma, and an enemy of 'consumer' health. WE CANT LET THE BASTARDS GET AWAY WITH IT!!
Gymbo, after countless multistate foodborne illness outbreaks that have sickened thousands I'm happy to grant the FDA the authority to have access to pest and sanitation records. If a food processor is doing its job giving the FDA access to such records should not be a problem.
I think you would be happy with the new language in the bill and the Congressional debate on Thursday, I encourage you to read the record and the bill. The concerns of small farmers are being addressed. Instead of referring to old information, in an old version of the bill, you might try calling your Senators to discuss concerns before the Senate takes up similar legislation.
And it does still matter, this is just the first step, we have a long way to go before we have a comprehensive food safety bill.
Kat Starwolf, I assure you that the consumer advocates this article discusses have read the bill. No one is saying its organic farmers who are the problem, which is why there were many concessions made this week in the interest of small and organic farmers.
Chris Kross, I believe this is published by a law firm that sues Big Ag companies when they poison consumers. I encourage you to look into it!
there's a clear question here as to whether this is outside the powers granted by the constitution. This only increases the size of government and makes it more intrusive into the lives of American citizens. The problem we have right now is with too much Government and this only goes further in that same direction. Anyone who supported this trash should be ashamed.
If you are operating a food busines, whether a huge operation or a small one, allowing the appropriate regulatory agency to have access to records is a given--or at least it should be. The fact that someone is operting a business that could have an impact on the public health is all the "cause" that is needed to access records. Would you rather have the FDA have no authority to do anything until hundreds of people become ill and the agency can prove that the illnesses originated from a particular business? No regulatory agency should be expected to conduct an investigation or a routine inspection without access to pertinent records.
Small and organic does not automatically equal safe. As I said on the other blog, big food producers usually know the rules and why they are in place but choose not to follow the rules, largely because they get away with it and because of the profit motive. Small producers, no matter how nice and well-intentioned they may be, usually don't follow the rules because they have no clue about food safety. I worked in food safety and sanitation for many years, and the small, locally owned food establishments were almost always the source of my biggest headaches. All food producers, whether large or small, need to follow safe practices--period.
Helenabee-I'm interested to know what concessions were made for small farmers in this bill. Is there some type of a threshold for exemption based upon size or production. Also, you mention the "record" is there a place on the web to find record of the testismony?
Also to some of the other posters who suggest small producers should be under just as much scrutiny as large producers...I would just like you to consider, that if our nation is to continue to have any kind of entrepreneurial food system, small producers simply cannot afford to comply with regulations that are designed for massive companies, as in this bill. Consumers are defacto protected because there is a transparency between producer and consumer wholly absent from a situation such as Peanut Corp of America. Consumers themselves will weed out the bad operators at no cost whatsoever to the taxpayer.
I am so happy to see that so many are outraged at this legislation--thank you!!
The FDA is one of many unconstitutional federal entities. Regulation should take place at the state level, thus creating competition between the states for the ideal balance between restrictions and safety.
Let's get back to Constitutional principles by replacing irresponsible congressmen with patriots who will uphold their oath to support and defend the Constitution. Numerically speaking, we could replace 87% of our senators/congressmen in 2012. Let's do it.
For those that are interested the senator has introduced their bill to improve food safety.
It can be found at http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s111-510- can download the bill
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-510 status of the bill
Folks, please read it before you comment on it. Yes, Farms and Restaurants are exempt.
Given the scope of the industrialized food production system in our country we need a centralized authority (yes I mean our U.S. Government) to regulate and enforce laws so that our own citizens (and children) are not killed by large food company's who are focussed on profit instead of public safety. I don't always like big government either but this is why I pay my taxes, I expect and require the federal government to keep these people honest. We need to trust our government a bit more, that's why we can vote them out every few years. Get over the "big government paranoia" already people!
some of you guys should really research whats really going on. Every day in the United States, about 200,000 people are sickened by a food borne disease, 900 are hospitalized, and fourteen die. Every year, E. coli 0157:H7 poisoning causes about 73,480 illnesses, 2,168 hospitalizations, and 61 deaths. Every year in the United States food tainted with Salmonella causes about 1.4 million illnesses and 500 deaths. and why does this happen? because we lack food safety. the passing of HR 2749 is a definite positive. instead of blogging on how you appose this leap forward how about you pick up eric schlosser's fast food nation or just watch food inc if your too lazy to read.this doesnt have to do with government having more power its about our health. inform yourselves please.