Less than two weeks ago, Pew released a poll showing that about 9 in 10 Americans favor the government adopting food safety measures. That’s an overwhelming majority. But I wonder what that number would be if the public realized that food processing facilities are inspected on average only once every ten years.
The House took a watershed vote in July – after years of hearings and investigations – to pass comprehensive food safety legislation creating a new food safety program at FDA. It is now time for the Senate to do the same. During the many hearings, new outbreaks provided fresh evidence that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lacked essential tools to prevent food safety problems in fresh produce, processed foods like cookie dough and peanut butter, and the burgeoning supply of imported foods.
Food safety problems are not new; in 1999, the Centers for Disease Control estimated that hundreds of thousands of people are hospitalized each year. Most amazing to long time watchers of Capital Hill, however, was how both Democratic and Republican members of Congress could name names and tell the stories of people in their own districts that had suffered illnesses or lost a family member from unsafe food. And the members shared the outrage of these families in knowing that each of these illnesses was entirely preventable.
A parent watching a child face the ravaging effects of toxic strains of E. Coli or Salmonella will go over and over what single action or decision might have prevented the horror that they are watching. But all too often, Congressional investigators found that the actions and decisions that have lead to these outbreaks are made far from the point of preparation or consumption – whether to harvest a field that may be contaminated or process and release products that haven’t been subject to the highest levels of quality control.
The House-passed food safety bill and one now being considered in the Senate will help prevent many outbreaks, as all food processors regulated by FDA will have a food safety plan that can be regularly reviewed during more frequent government inspections. And produce growers will have new common-sense standards to help ensure that one "bad apple" doesn’t destroy consumers’ willingness to buy an item like spinach for a season or more.
Like the financial crisis, food safety problems at the FDA festered for many years until they erupted into the cascade of outbreaks from foods like spinach, peppers, peanut butter, and cookie dough. Public support for strong food safety legislation is overwhelming. Senators must recognize that delay will only pave the way for the next outbreak and a new round of families and victims that will ask why Congress hasn’t acted. Let’s start the second year of the new Administration with a mandate from Congress that things will improve – smaller, less frequent outbreaks; illnesses, hospitalizations, and victims avoided. As any parent can tell you, prevention is in fact the best cure.
Caroline Smith DeWaal
Food Safety Director
Center for Science in the Public Interest
The opinions here are the author's alone and do not represent the official policy for the entire Make Our Food Safe Coalition.