[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 178 (Wednesday, December 9, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H9186-H9187]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   FDA, DO YOUR JOB, BUT GET IT RIGHT

  (Mr. WELCH asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WELCH. Mr. Speaker, the Food and Drug Administration has an 
extremely important job to make certain that our food is safe, but it 
is often misguided and overreaches in some of its regulations.
  The FDA is considering a standard that would severely impact artisan 
cheese producers. They have proposed a safety standard that seeks to 
limit the level of nontoxigenic E. coli found in raw milk cheeses.
  The problem is there is absolutely no scientific connection between 
meeting that standard and improving food and safety. Yet, there is a 
very practical, burdensome impact on our artisan cheese makers.
  It is why the ICMSF, the leading global food safety body, the 
European Union, and many U.S. food safety experts have argued that 
monitoring raw milk cheeses for nontoxigenic E. coli is absolutely 
unwarranted. In spite of that international consensus, the FDA is 
forging ahead, and it is going to do real damage to our artisan cheese 
makers.
  Artisan cheese makers already have rigorous protocols in place to 
ensure safety. That is why I led a bipartisan, bicameral group of 
colleagues in sending a letter to FDA raising concerns with this 
standard: FDA, do your job, but get it right.

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