WASHINGTON (AP) — When salmonella-laced peanut products sickened hundreds during a recent scare, President Barack Obama said consumers should be able to have confidence that their government will keep peanut butter-eating children safe — and that included his daughter Sasha.
"That's what Sasha eats for lunch probably
three times a week," Obama said then. "And you know, I don't want to
have to worry about whether she's going to get sick as a consequence to having
her lunch."
On Tuesday, Obama is getting a chance to allay
people's fears about the safety of their food. He is set to sign a $1.4 billion
overhaul of the food safety system, giving Washington new power to increase
inspections at food processing facilities and force companies to recall tainted
products.
Congress passed the bill at the end of last year to
respond to several serious outbreaks of E. coli and salmonella poisoning in
peanuts, eggs and produce in the past few years. The law will be the first
major overhaul of the U.S. food safety system since the 1930s.
"It will bring our food safety system into the
21st century, improving health, saving lives and helping Americans feel
confident that when they sit down at their dinner table they won't end up in
the hospital," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told
reporters Monday during a conference call.
The measure gives the Food and Drug Administration
substantial new authority, but the money to carry out the legislation is not
guaranteed. Some conservative lawmakers have expressed concern about the
five-year cost at a time when cutting federal spending is the Washington mantra
in a tight budget environment. Supporters say they intend to push Congress for
the full funding.
Rep. Jack Kingston, who hopes to become chairman of
the agriculture subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, said that
"our food supply is 99.999 percent safe." Kingston cited recent
federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 48 million
people — or one in six Americans — are sickened each year by foodborne
illnesses. Of that, 180,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 die annually.
Kingston said that, in a country of more than 308
million people, the figures show the FDA is already doing a "very decent
job on food safety already." He questioned giving the agency more money.
"I think we'll look very carefully at the
funding before we support $1.4 billion," he told The Associated Press in
an interview Monday, speaking of Republicans who will control the House when
Congress comes back into session Wednesday.
Erik Olson, director of food and consumer safety
programs at the Pew Health Group, argued that the health care costs associated
with an outbreak of foodborne illness alone run into the tens of billions of
dollars — far beyond the cost of putting the new law into place.
"This will save a great deal of money, both
for consumers and for the industry," Olson told reporters on the
conference call arranged by the administration.
The new law will require larger farms and food
manufacturers to prepare detailed food safety plans and tell the FDA how they
are striving to keep their food safe at different stages of production.
It also emphasizes prevention to help stop
outbreaks before they happen. The recent salmonella and E. coli outbreaks
exposed the FDA's lack of resources and authority as it struggled to trace and
contain the contaminated products.
The agency rarely inspects most food facilities and
farms, visiting some about once a decade and others not at all.
Soon after taking office in 2009, Obama promised to
make food safety overhaul a priority. At the time, a widespread outbreak of
salmonella in peanuts dominated headlines. At least nine people died as a
result and hundreds more were sickened.
The bill had broad bipartisan backing in Congress,
but it was criticized by advocates of buying locally sourced food and
small-farm operators who said the new requirements could force some of them
into bankruptcy. Senators eventually agreed to exempt some of those operations
from the costly food safety plans required of bigger companies, but that move
upset food safety advocates and larger growers.
Those exemptions are in the legislation Obama is
signing.
Many major food companies also support the bill,
recognizing that safe food is good for business.
The new law would:
—Allow the FDA to order a recall of tainted food.
Currently it can only negotiate with businesses for voluntary recalls.
—Require the agency to develop new safety
regulations for producers of the highest-risk fruits and vegetables.
—Increase inspections of domestic and foreign food
facilities; the riskiest domestic facilities would be inspected every three
years.
—Require farms and processors to keep records to
help the government trace recalled foods.
The new law would not extend to meat, poultry or
processed eggs. Those foods are regulated by the Agriculture Department and are
subjected to more rigorous inspections and oversight than foods regulated by
the FDA.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
(AP
Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
