[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 59 (Wednesday, April 28, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E799-E800]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


          INTRODUCTION OF THE CONSUMER FOOD SAFETY ACT OF 1999

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. FRANK PALLONE, JR.

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 28, 1999

  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to announce the introduction 
of the Consumer Food Safety Act (CFSA) of 1999, a comprehensive food 
safety bill that I introduced in the 105th Congress as well. I am very 
pleased to note that a companion bill was introduced today in the other 
body.
  Food-borne illnesses continue to wreak havoc on the American people. 
Each day, new accounts of tainted foods and sick children are detailed 
in media reports. One such report that is in this month's issue of 
Glamour magazine details the experience of a long-time friend of mine 
who is also a constituent, Lynn Nowak of Metuchen. At an event earlier 
today at which I discussed the introduction of this bill, Lynn 
recounted the horrors of becoming ill from food poisoning while 
pregnant, which resulted in severe complications for both her and her 
daughter Julia. While Lynn has recovered her health, her life has been 
forever changed. Julia's motor development is far from what it should 
be at her age. Twenty months old, she receives physical therapy twice a 
week and her prognosis is uncertain.
  The Consumer Food Safety Act of 1999 proposes a host of common sense 
measures to protect children like Julia and all Americans against food-
borne illnesses. Most importantly, it proposes to modernize the Food 
and Drug Administration (FDA) to fight the newest breed of food-borne 
illness agents, like E. Coli 0157:H7. And let me assure you, these 
modernizations are badly needed.
  While the FDA oversees food safety for fruits, vegetables, juices and 
seafood, it receives less than one-third of the resources that the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture receives for its food safety 
responsibilities. Over the last five or so years, the volume of fruits 
and produce being imported into the United States has doubled while the 
number of FDA inspectors has decreased during the same time. Today, 
less than .2 percent of fruits and vegetables are tested for microbial 
contamination.
  This neglect is producing severe consequences for the American 
public. A recently completed report from the Center for Science in the 
Public Interest compiled an inventory of 225 food-borne illness 
outbreaks between 1990 and 1998 and found that ``foods regulated by the 
Food and Drug Administration

[[Page E800]]

caused over twice as many outbreaks as foods regulated by the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture.''
  The GAO estimates that some 9,100 deaths each year can be attributed 
to food poisoning. If nothing is done to improve the situation, things 
will only get worse. Indeed, the Department of Health and Human 
Services estimates that food-borne related deaths and illnesses will 
likely increase by 10 to 15% over the next decade.
  The Consumer Food Safety Act will address this growing problem in a 
number of ways. Let me explain the bill's three main components.


                      national food safety program

  First, the Consumer Food Safety Act establishes a National Food 
Safety Program to ensure the food industry has effective programs in 
place to assure the safety of food products in the United States. While 
this program will contain a number of provisions, I would like to draw 
your attention to two key aspects of this program, inspections and 
registrations.
  The legislation requires quarterly inspections of food processing and 
importing facilities. It also requires food processors and importers to 
register with the Department of Health and Human Services, injecting 
needed accountability into the food safety system. The Secretary of HHS 
may suspend the registration if a facility fails to allow inspections 
or if a suspension is necessary to protect the public's health.
  Those processors who have a good track record will receive a waiver 
from the quarterly inspection requirement, but those who do not pass 
the test will continue to be inspected for sanitary conditions and to 
determine if their food products are unsafe for human consumption. This 
should be the baseline for all foods. Frequent inspections are a key 
ingredient to any food safety package. A more rigorous inspection 
program is one of the principle pillars of our legislation.
  I would just like to add that federal and state cooperation is 
crucial to implementing the National Food Safety Program our bill 
envisions. It is for this reason the bill includes a section specific 
to federal-state cooperation, directing the Secretary to work with the 
states to ensure state and federal programs function in a coordinated 
and cost effective manner.


                   additional research and education

  The second major component of the Consumer Food Safety Act will be 
increased research and education. With new food-borne illnesses 
cropping up, additional research and education is necessary to devise 
treatments and better inform the public of threats to its safety. The 
bill I am introducing includes provisions to conduct better food 
surveillance and tracking to assess the frequency and source of food-
borne illnesses. In addition, research will be conducted to improve 
sanitation practices and food monitoring techniques. The legislation 
will also target research on developing rapid testing procedures and 
determining contamination sources. The goal is to stop food-borne 
illnesses before they have a chance to spread.
  As a complement to the research program, the CFSA contains education 
initiatives to enhance public awareness and understanding. In many 
instances, the medical community is not familiar with food-borne 
illnesses. Consequently, physicians are unable to properly diagnose and 
treat the illness until after additional complications develop or until 
it is too late. In addition, to educating physicians, however, we must 
ensure that every American becomes an active participant in the battle 
against food-borne illness. To that end, the bill targets education 
initiatives toward public health professionals.


                       enhanced enforcement tools

  The third major component of the Consumer Food Safety Act will 
provide the FDA with the additional enforcement tools it needs to 
better protect the nation's food supply. The bill includes notification 
and recall provisions that empower the FDA to stop tainted foods from 
entering the market. It also includes whistleblower protections to 
prevent employees from losing their job after reporting unsafe 
practices by bad actor employees. Afterall, it is the worker in the 
processing facility who is in the trenches and is most able to provide 
information about unsanitary practices. In order to give the bill the 
teeth it needs to be enforced, it includes civil monetary penalties for 
failures to comply with its provisions.
  Taken together, the increased inspections, additional research and 
education, and enhanced enforcement tools of the Consumer Food Safety 
Act will ensure a safer food supply from farm to table. It is a common-
sense solution to a growing problem. I urge all of my colleagues to 
join me in the effort to pass this bill so that we can stop the type of 
tragedy that has affected Lynn Nowak and her daughter Julia from 
happening to others.

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