[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 29 (Thursday, February 12, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S2236]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BROWN:
  S. 425. A bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to 
provide for the establishment of a traceability system for food, to 
amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspections 
Act, the Egg Products Inspection Act, and the Federal Food, Drug, and 
Cosmetic Act to provide for improved public health and food safety 
through enhanced enforcement, and for other purposes; to the Committee 
on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, recent events involving E. coli- and 
salmonella-tainted foods demonstrate once again that our country's food 
inspection, tracking, and safety system is unable to adequately protect 
American consumers. At a time when too many Ohioans are struggling to 
put food on their tables, it is simply unacceptable that they also have 
to worry about the safety of that food.
  The most recent food-borne illness outbreak was identified as a 
salmonella contamination linked on January 12, 2009 to the Peanut 
Corporation of America's, PCA, plant in Blakely, GA. Since October of 
last year, this salmonella outbreak has sickened 600 people in 43 
states. More an 1,900 products have been recalled--representing one of 
the largest food recalls in our Nation's history. Yesterday, the 
nationwide death toll rose to nine. Ohio has reported 92 cases linked 
to this outbreak and two deaths, including this week's death of a 
Medina woman.
  Unfortunately, the current salmonella outbreak is not the only food-
borne illness outbreak to have plagued our Nation in recent years. Just 
last year, Nebraska beef, an Omaha slaughterhouse, issued a recall of 
5.3 million pounds of meat after widespread reports indicated that its 
meat was tainted with the sometimes-deadly strain of E. coli 0157:H7 
bacteria. Health officials confirmed that 21 Ohioans, and 45 people in 
total, were made ill by this outbreak.
  The current salmonella outbreak--taken alone--is a tragedy. The 
current salmonella outbreak--taken in combination with recent beef, 
spinach, and jalapeno pepper disease outbreaks, which have sickened and 
killed many--is evidence of a complete break-down in our nation's food 
safety system.
  More can--and must--be done to improve the safety of our food supply. 
It is for this reason that I am introducing legislation today to 
address some of the major problems plaguing the Food and Drug 
Administration and the United States Department of Agriculture, the 
Federal agencies tasked with overseeing and protecting our nation's 
food supply.
  The bill I am introducing today, the Food Safety and Tracking 
Improvement Act, closely mirrors legislation that I introduced in the 
110th Congress, and would give the Federal Government the authority it 
needs to protect American consumers. It would give the Government the 
authority to recall tainted food and the tools to track the source of 
food outbreaks. Most importantly, it would save lives by ensuring a 
swift and thorough Federal response to contamination outbreaks.
  I think most Americans would be alarmed to learn that the. Federal 
government does not currently have the authority to issue a mandatory 
recall of contaminated food. Instead, America's food safety system 
relies on voluntary recalls and self-policing by industry. The top 
priority for both USDA and FDA should be to protect the public's 
health--a mission that will sometimes require swift and decisive action 
that, let's face it, may not be to industry's liking.
  In the most recent outbreak, PCA was identified as the source of the 
salmonella outbreak on January 12, 2009. While PCA issued a voluntary 
recall of a limited number of peanut butter products the next day, it 
wasn't until 16 days later that PCA expanded its recall to encompass 
all peanut and peanut products processed at its Georgia facility.
  In the Nebraska Beef case, had USDA been able to issue a mandatory 
recall once it became clear that consumers' safety was at risk, unsafe 
food would have been taken off of the shelves quicker and fewer 
citizens would have purchased and consumed the contaminated meat.
  We will never know how many more people consumed dangerous foods in 
the 16 days that PCA kept its products on the market, or in the weeks 
that Nebraska Beef decided to keep selling its products. But we do know 
that allowing private companies to unilaterally decide whether or not 
to recall their products is not in the best interest of our country. We 
must provide the relevant Federal agencies with mandatory recall 
authority so that they can act swiftly and efficiently to ensure that 
the public's safety is not compromised.
  It is vital that FDA have the authority to remove dangerous products 
from grocery store shelves, from school cafeterias, and from nursing 
home dinner trays as soon as regulators believe a threat exists. It is 
also vital that we establish a Federal program to allow for quick and 
accurate tracing of tainted food back to the source of the problem. If 
the United States Postal Service can track a package from my office in 
Washington to my office in Cincinnati, we should be able to do the same 
for food products.
  My legislation would provide $40 million over three years for the FDA 
to set up a national traceability system for all food under its 
jurisdiction. This system would allow the Federal government to quickly 
identify the origin of contaminated food and would be developed by an 
Advisory Committee comprised of consumer advocates, industry leaders, 
and relevant representatives from FDA and USDA. The Committee would 
determine which tracking mechanisms, such as tracking numbers, 
electronic barcodes, and Federal databases, should be employed to 
protect consumers.
  I have partnered in these initiatives with Representative Diana 
DeGette, a close colleague of mine in the House, who has long been an 
advocate of providing our food safety regulators with these much-needed 
powers.
  The time to reform our Nation's food safety system is now. We cannot 
wait for another peanut or beef or spinach disaster. It is the 
responsibility of FDA and USDA to protect our nation's food supply and 
it is the responsibility of the United States Congress to ensure that 
these agencies have the tools and authority they need to do their job. 
I urge all of my colleagues to join me in support of the Food Safety 
and Tracking Improvement Act.
                                 ______