Dick Durbin Introduces Amendment To Require Modernization Of Nation's Food Safety Policies

December 11, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – United States Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) offered an amendment to the Farm Bill, yesterday evening, which will require Congress to reform the food safety functions of the federal government. Although food safety technology, science, and best practices change frequently, Congress has no mechanism to regularly review the nation's food safety policy, and many of the most important food safety statutes have not been updated in more than forty years -- some are far older than that.

"Look at the facts -- the Federal Meat Inspection Act was written in response to Upton Sinclair's, The Jungle, and recently celebrated its 100th anniversary,” said Durbin. “In the past 100 years, we've gone from model-Ts to the space shuttle. We have learned more in the past 50 years about how the human body responds to disease and infection than in the previous 500 years. Our food safety laws should be updated and based on modern science."

Experts agree that American food safety laws are outdated and in need of major review. The National Academies of Science (NAS), Government Accountability Office (GAO), the President’s Council on Food Safety, and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and HHS Inspectors General have all recommended broad reforms of our food safety system; however Congress has not responded.

"Simply put, food safety has not been a priority in Washington. Instead of updating the laws governing the safety of food, Congress has relied on passing piece-meal product-specific provisions which don’t address the big picture. As a result we have a confusing, bureaucratic mess. That has to change,” Durbin said.

This year alone, there have been 48 recalls on contaminated food regulated by USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) and more than 150 recalls of products under the Food and Drug Administration’s jurisdiction. Just this week five million frozen pizzas and one million pounds of beef were recalled because they were tainted with E. coli.

The Farm Bill already includes language, at Durbin’s request, which would require the creation of a Congressional Bipartisan Food Safety Commission, responsible for reviewing the nation’s food safety system and making recommendations on how best to modernize and update the current structure.

Durbin is a leader in the Senate in reforming our nation’s food safety system. In September, the President signed into law the Food and Drug Administration Revitalization Act. This bill included food safety proposals, authored by the Senator, which will result in faster recalls, alerts, and notifications through the supply chain.

During this session of Congress, Durbin has introduced legislation that calls for the implementation of a food safety program to standardize American food safety activities (The Safe Food Act – S. 654). Durbin has also worked to increase funding for the FDA and USDA.

Source: Senator Dick Durbin

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