Improving the nation's food safety would be an historic accomplishment for Congress, and it is within its grasp.
After several years of high-profile nationwide foodborne illness outbreaks, it is clear that our food safety system needs to be fixed.
On November 18, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Food Safety Modernization Act (S.510) was unanimously approved by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and is now awaiting floor consideration.
If enacted, S.510 and its strong companion bill -- which passed the U.S. House of Representatives over the summer -- will strengthen FDA's ability to oversee the safety of the American food supply.
As a public health agency, FDA is currently charged with inspecting and monitoring much of the food produced domestically and imported into the U.S. Inadequate budgets, outdated laws and limited enforcement authority have hobbled the agency and hindered its ability to protect consumers from exposure to foodborne contamination. As a result, millions of consumers are sickened, hundreds of thousands are hospitalized and thousands die annually from consuming contaminated food, according to government estimates.
A broken food safety system is bad for food companies too. A nationwide survey conducted earlier this year by IBM showed 60 percent of consumers are concerned about the safety of the foods they purchase; less than 20 percent of consumers trust food companies to develop and sell safe food products; and 57 percent of consumers said they have stopped purchasing foods, even for a short time, within the past two years because of safety concerns.
The Kellogg Company reportedly lost between $65 and 70 million as a result of the outbreak and recall prompted by contaminated peanut butter products, and the spinach industry saw a substantial decrease in sales as a result of an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak in 2006; product sales have still not rebounded to pre-outbreak levels.
The bipartisan legislation that could soon become law will help limit hazards in the U.S. food supply and reinstate consumer confidence in the safety of the U.S. food supply. Enacting it will be a major win for consumers and industry, as well as Congress.
Chris Waldrop
Director of the Food Policy Institute
Consumer Federation of America
The opinions here are the author's alone and do not represent the official policy for the entire Make Our Food Safe coalition.