WASHINGTON - April 2 - Carol L. Tucker-Foreman, Distinguished Fellow at Consumer Federation of America’s Food Policy Institute, today told the House Agriculture Committee that the lack of adequate food safety systems has become an emergency the Congress must address by enacting new laws that require the FDA to prevent foodborne illness rather than reacting to it and modernizing the FMIA and PPIA so that the Department of Agriculture can effectively enforce its HACCP and sanitation systems. Both agencies need more research to build science based systems.

Tucker-Foreman noted that the continuing string of foodborne illnesses is bad for consumers, food processors and farmers. The public is losing confidence in the safety of the nation’s food supply. States represented by members of the Agriculture Committee are among those hit by the last three outbreaks—contaminated peppers, peanut products and sprouts.

• Peppers contaminated with Salmonella Saintpaul sickened 1,442 persons in 43 states, including 559 Texans, 120 people in Illinois, 42 in Georgia and 59 in Arizona.
• Salmonella-contaminated peanut products made 691 persons ill and killed 9 people in 46 states. The victims included 100 Ohioans, 76 Californians, and 43 Minnesotans.
• Earlier this month 84 Nebraskans, 27 Iowans, and 5 Kansans and South Dakotans were among the victims of a Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak traced to eating contaminated fresh sprouts.

Tucker-Foreman urged Congress to change the Food and Drug Act to direct FDA to concentrate on preventing foodborne illness and give it power and funding to do so. She also urged the committee to give FDA a separate organizational entity within HHS as recommended by Representative Rosa DeLauro.

She suggested that Congress could take a look at USDA’s FSIS to see how important that separate organizational structure and institutional leadership can be.

Carol L. Tucker-Foreman, Distinguished Fellow at Consumer Federation of America’s Food Policy Institute, today told the House Agriculture Committee that the lack of adequate food safety systems has become an emergency the Congress must address by enacting new laws that require the FDA to prevent foodborne illness rather than reacting to it and modernizing the FMIA and PPIA so that the Department of Agriculture can effectively enforce its HACCP and sanitation systems. Both agencies need more research to build science based systems.

Tucker-Foreman noted that the continuing string of foodborne illnesses is bad for consumers, food processors and farmers. The public is losing confidence in the safety of the nation’s food supply. States represented by members of the Agriculture Committee are among those hit by the last three outbreaks—contaminated peppers, peanut products and sprouts.
• Peppers contaminated with Salmonella Saintpaul sickened 1,442 persons in 43 states, including 559 Texans, 120 people in Illinois, 42 in Georgia and 59 in Arizona.
• Salmonella-contaminated peanut products made 691 persons ill and killed 9 people in 46 states. The victims included 100 Ohioans, 76 Californians, and 43 Minnesotans.
• Earlier this month 84 Nebraskans, 27 Iowans, and 5 Kansans and South Dakotans were among the victims of a Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak traced to eating contaminated fresh sprouts.

Tucker-Foreman urged Congress to change the Food and Drug Act to direct FDA to concentrate on preventing foodborne illness and give it power and funding to do so. She also urged the committee to give FDA a separate organizational entity within HHS as recommended by Representative Rosa DeLauro.

She suggested that Congress could take a look at USDA’s FSIS to see how important that separate organizational structure and institutional leadership can be.