Understanding food safety bills now in Congress

By Barbara Wunder, FFVA communications manager

Lawmakers have come out in force to tackle the mend what they see as holes in the country’s food safety net.

The latest development took place May 26 when the House Energy and Commerce Committee released a draft of the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009, which will direct House efforts on food safety for this session. Committee hearings are expected soon, with a move to pass a bill out of committee during June.

The full House, however, may not take up the bill before the August break because of a crowded legislative calendar.

Produce industry members are concerned about many of the bill’s provisions. “An early review of the draft shows many challenges for the food industry in general, with significant user fees for food facilities and importers, inflexible and difficult traceability provisions, a new country of origin labeling requirement for food ingredients, and the ability for FDA to quarantine geographic regions based on outbreak information,” United Fresh Produce Association said in a statement.

It incorporates produce-specific provisions that are similar to a bill presented earlier this year by Reps. Jim Costa (D-CA) and Adam Putnam (R-FL), and food safety legislation from Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL).

THE ROAD TO A FOOD SAFETY BILL

Legislators have proposed no fewer than eight bills in the past few months that would, to varying degrees, rework the way the government regulates the food production industry and even how regulatory agencies are structured.

Demolish the Food and Drug Administration and create a separate food safety agency?  Make traceability to the farm level mandatory for everyone who grows food crops and raise livestock? Take a blanket approach in which every producer is subject to more scrutiny or pick and choose those who produce “higher-risk” commodities? Those possibilities and more are buried in the numerous attempts at food safety regulation overhaul.

All the bills being considered would increase the federal government’s regulation responsibilities for fruits and vegetables. Here’s a rundown on the earlier bills that have been proposed.

House Resolution 875

Connecticut Democrat Rep. Rosa DeLauro stirred up the wrath of home gardeners everywhere when she introduced this bill in February because it left open numerous possibilities about what the term “farm production facilities” meant. The bill didn’t specify whether that meant large commercial operations or a 9-year-old’s tomato plants. DeLauro has since said that the bill would ensure the safety of food in interstate commerce and not penalize backyard gardeners, farmers’ markets and other such endeavors and hobbyists.

H.R. 875 would step up inspections at farm operations and would move those food safety functions that the Food and Drug Administration performs into a separate agency under the Department of Health and Human Services. The new agency, the Food Safety Administration, would be charged with inspecting domestic and foreign food production facilities to ensure they follow standardized practices and keep diligent records. The bill also would establish a national traceability system and increase penalties for violations of food safety laws.

House Resolution 759 – the Food and Drug Administration Globalization Act

The Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 draft is largely based on the food provisions of this bill, drafted by Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), which focuses on traceability. It also includes strict requirements for country of origin labeling, which could affect the international trade picture. And it would create a major new system of FDA accreditation of third parties that would inspect and offer certification to food facilities.

House Resolution 1332– the Safe Food Enforcement, Assessment, Standards and Targeting Act (the Safe FEAST Act) and Senate 510, the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act

These bills are very similar to each other, but they differ the others in that they would mandate stepped up inspections and regulations, but only for those foods that have been determined to be historically higher risk for safety issues. Sponsored by Reps. Adam Putnam (R-Fla.) and Jim Costa (D-Calif.), H.R. 1332 would place mandatory food safety requirements on farm and food companies and strengthen relationships between federal and state agencies to better handle outbreaks. It would also give FDA the ability to recall contaminated food. The Safe FEAST Act is virtually identical to Senate Bill 510, sponsored by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.). The produce-specific provisions in the latest bill are generally similar to this one.

The Durbin and Costa/Putnam bills seem to make the most sense, says FFVA President Mike Stuart. “I think it’s safe to say we’re supportive of the approach those bills are taking. Both of these bills would focus on certain higher-risk products for regulatory action as opposed to a broad-brush approach to all products,” Stuart said.

Presidential approach

In addition to the various bills making their way through Congress, President Obama has made food safety a priority by the establishment of a Food Safety Working Group. The group’s purpose is to pool the expertise of top agency officials in order to develop an improved food safety system.

Produce industry representatives were invited to provide their views on food safety in a White House listening session May 13 hosted by Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, co-chairs of the Food Safety Working Group.

A small group leaders from government agencies such as FDA, CDC, and USDA, Congressional members and staff, state and local health officials, and public health, industry and consumer groups discussed possible recommendations that the Working Group is considering presenting to President Obama. 

The President's Working Group also launched a new website May 14 to provide information to the public and receive individual comments.  The group is expected to make formal recommendations for food safety reform to President Obama in the next several months.

Should farms and processors be subject to the same scrutiny?

Everyone agrees that food safety is critically important. But should farmers be held up to the same standards as handlers and processors further down the supply chain? Does the benefit of on-farm inspections outweigh the cost in both time and money?

Opinions differ. Some say that since pathogens often originate at the farm level and that many fruits and vegetables are consumed raw (even cooking does not kill every pathogen), more oversight is needed where food is grown. However, since growers are subject to audits required by their customers, would additional federal inspections be redundant? Besides, even beautiful, clean romaine lettuce can pick up contaminants as it ventures closer to the bowl of Caesar salad. How many times does an item need to be examined before it lands on the plate?

At the moment, farms are exempt from some record-keeping requirements that FDA imposes on other food handlers. That doesn’t mean farms don’t keep records, as evidenced here. Farmers, packers and shippers say it’s critical to keep detailed records for their customers and for their own information. As the food safety statues say now, “FDA will issue special regulations if necessary to cover these excluded operations.” FDA is not required to inspect at the farm level, but it can if the agency feels it’s necessary. FDA usually relies on the strict good agricultural practices that the industry imposes on itself. The new Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 would specifically remove the exemption from record-keeping practices that farms now have.

An example of a set of good agricultural practices is the 2006 Leafy Greens Initiative, created to address outbreaks of E. coli O157:H7 associated with leafy greens. Key features of the cooperative and voluntary initiative are FDA visits to farms, packers and processors assessment of industry efforts to improve food safety and, if appropriate, recommend further efforts. Another example is the 2007 Tomato Safety Initiative, in which Florida tomato growers are inspected by state officials to ensure effective safety procedures.

State and federal marketing programs also require growers and other handlers of fresh produce to adhere to selling products in compliance with established food safety standards.

As food safety legislative efforts continue, FFVA will monitor the process and update this article.