The food safety bill approved by the Senate on Tuesday would:
Allow the Food and Drug Administration to order a recall of tainted foods. Currently, the agency only can negotiate with businesses to order voluntary recalls.
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2010/12/01/1675226/from-farm-to-market-senate-passes.html
Wednesday, Dec. 01, 2010
From farm to market: Senate passes food safety measure
Aim is to prevent disease outbreaks.
By JOHN HOLLAND
jholland@modbee.com
and MARY CLARE JALONICK
The Associated Press
jholland@modbee.com
and MARY CLARE JALONICK
The Associated Press
Customers already have said they want safe melons, Turlock packer Steve Smith said, so the food safety bill passed by the U.S. Senate on Tuesday might not be necessary.
The bill would require detailed plans for tracking crops from farm to market, along with increased inspections and other steps aimed at preventing disease outbreaks.
Smith, a third-generation owner of Turlock Fruit Co., said he watches out for food safety because the company's future depends on it.
The bill would require detailed plans for tracking crops from farm to market, along with increased inspections and other steps aimed at preventing disease outbreaks.
Smith, a third-generation owner of Turlock Fruit Co., said he watches out for food safety because the company's future depends on it.
- 2006: Natural Selection Foods, a spinach processor in San Benito County, issued a recall involving E. coli that killed three people and sickened 196 others. 2008: Hot peppers -- not tomatoes, as originally suspected -- were the cause of a salmonella outbreak that sickened more than 1,200 people in 42 states.
2009: A Georgia company that processes 1 percent of the nation's peanuts was blamed for a salmonella outbreak that sickened 575 people in
43 states and resulted in the recall of more than 1,500 foods.
APRIL 2010: WinCo Foods recalled ground beef sold in 70 stores around the West after samples from the Modesto store were found to contain E. coli.
AUGUST 2010: Two Iowa egg producers triggered a nationwide recall after more than 1,000 people were sickened by a salmonella outbreak.
AUGUST 2010: Modesto-based Valley Meat Co. recalled nearly 1 million pounds of possibly contaminated ground beef products after seven people became ill from E. coli.
- The food safety bill approved by the Senate on Tuesday would: Allow the Food and Drug Administration to order a recall of tainted foods. Currently, the agency only can negotiate with businesses to order voluntary recalls.
Require larger food processors to register with the FDA and create detailed food safety plans
Require the FDA to create new produce safety regulations for producers of the highest-risk fruits and vegetables
Establish stricter standards for the safety of imported food
Increase inspections of domestic and foreign food facilities, directing the most resources to those operations with the highest risk profiles. The riskiest domestic facilities would be inspected every three years.
Dec. 12, 5 p.m.: Traditional Las Posadas Nativity Procession. Free admission.
"Do we need to add to the bureaucracy to be sure that happens?" he said. "That's debatable in my view."
The Senate voted 73-25 for the $1.4 billion bill, which would boost inspections, toughen the Food and Drug Administration's recall authority, and increase standards for imported food.
The Senate and House of Representatives must reconcile their versions before sending a final bill to President Barack Obama.
The legislation came in the wake of E. coli and salmonella outbreaks in peanuts, produce and a few other foods.
The outbreaks have exposed a lack of resources and authority at the FDA as the agency struggled to contain and trace contaminated products. The agency inspects many food facilities and farms only rarely, visiting some every decade or so and others not at all.
The bill would emphasize prevention so the agency could try to stop outbreaks before they begin.
"We think the Senate bill is a major step forward for public health," said Erik Olson, director of food and consumer product safety at the Pew Health Group.
The Almond Board of California, based in Modesto, increased its food safety efforts after a salmonella-related recall of Kern County nuts in 2004. The board discourages manure as fertilizer and urges regular cleaning of bins, among many other steps.
"A lot of the things included in the food safety bill are already part of what we are recommending or in some cases requiring," said Gabriele Ludwig, who oversees research for the board.
Plans already in place
Smith, whose company markets cantaloupes, honeydews and other melons to U.S. and Pacific Rim markets, said each box can be traced to the field where it was grown and the site where it was packed. An independent party checks for pesticide residue and other problems.
The 2006 recall of Salinas area spinach tainted by E. coli led to the creation of the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement. Growers of 99 percent of the state's crop agreed to inspections, monitoring of fertilizers and other steps.
The proposed federal rules likely will not add much more protection, said Scott Horsfall, chief executive officer of the group.
"In our industry, it's unlikely you would find any producers of any size that don't have a prevention plan in place," he said. "Leafy greens have been under the gun, and we are far along on that."
The Senate bill has unprecedented backing from many major food companies, but it came under fire from advocates of buying locally produced food and operators of small farms, who said it could bankrupt some small businesses.
Senators eventually agreed to exempt some of those operations from costly food safety plans required of bigger companies.
Turlock packer Smith said he opposes this provision.
"Food-borne bacteria doesn't know if you're a small farmer or a large farmer," he said.
No such exemption exists in the House version, which passed in July 2009. The House bill, favored by food safety advocates, includes more money for FDA inspectors and would charge fees to companies to help pay for the increased regulation.
It would include stricter penalties for food manufacturers who violate the law.
Modesto Bee staff writer John Holland can be reached at 578-2385 or jholland@modbee.com.
The Senate voted 73-25 for the $1.4 billion bill, which would boost inspections, toughen the Food and Drug Administration's recall authority, and increase standards for imported food.
The Senate and House of Representatives must reconcile their versions before sending a final bill to President Barack Obama.
The legislation came in the wake of E. coli and salmonella outbreaks in peanuts, produce and a few other foods.
The outbreaks have exposed a lack of resources and authority at the FDA as the agency struggled to contain and trace contaminated products. The agency inspects many food facilities and farms only rarely, visiting some every decade or so and others not at all.
The bill would emphasize prevention so the agency could try to stop outbreaks before they begin.
"We think the Senate bill is a major step forward for public health," said Erik Olson, director of food and consumer product safety at the Pew Health Group.
The Almond Board of California, based in Modesto, increased its food safety efforts after a salmonella-related recall of Kern County nuts in 2004. The board discourages manure as fertilizer and urges regular cleaning of bins, among many other steps.
"A lot of the things included in the food safety bill are already part of what we are recommending or in some cases requiring," said Gabriele Ludwig, who oversees research for the board.
Plans already in place
Smith, whose company markets cantaloupes, honeydews and other melons to U.S. and Pacific Rim markets, said each box can be traced to the field where it was grown and the site where it was packed. An independent party checks for pesticide residue and other problems.
The 2006 recall of Salinas area spinach tainted by E. coli led to the creation of the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement. Growers of 99 percent of the state's crop agreed to inspections, monitoring of fertilizers and other steps.
The proposed federal rules likely will not add much more protection, said Scott Horsfall, chief executive officer of the group.
"In our industry, it's unlikely you would find any producers of any size that don't have a prevention plan in place," he said. "Leafy greens have been under the gun, and we are far along on that."
The Senate bill has unprecedented backing from many major food companies, but it came under fire from advocates of buying locally produced food and operators of small farms, who said it could bankrupt some small businesses.
Senators eventually agreed to exempt some of those operations from costly food safety plans required of bigger companies.
Turlock packer Smith said he opposes this provision.
"Food-borne bacteria doesn't know if you're a small farmer or a large farmer," he said.
No such exemption exists in the House version, which passed in July 2009. The House bill, favored by food safety advocates, includes more money for FDA inspectors and would charge fees to companies to help pay for the increased regulation.
It would include stricter penalties for food manufacturers who violate the law.
Modesto Bee staff writer John Holland can be reached at 578-2385 or jholland@modbee.com.
Read more: http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2010/12/01/1675226/from-farm-to-market-senate-passes.html#ixzz17GuNF6sF
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