    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000, Book I)]
    [May 6, 2000]
    [Pages 855-856]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's Radio Address
    May 6, 2000

        Good morning. Warm weather has finally taken hold in most of the
    country, and millions of families are now taking weekend picnics and
    hosting backyard barbecues. Today I want to speak with you about the
    foods we serve at these gatherings and how we can make them even safer
    than they already are.
        Our food supply is the most bountiful in the world. And for 7 years
    now, our administration has been committed to making it the safest in
    the world. We've improved dramatically the Nation's inspection system
    for meat, poultry, and seafood. We've added new safeguards to protect
    families from unsafe imported foods. We've established a sophisticated
    early warning system that uses DNA fingerprinting techniques to detect
    and prevent outbreaks of foodborne illness. From farm to table, we've
    made great strides to ensure the safety of our food supply. But
    outbreaks of food-related illnesses are still far too prevalent. In
    fact, millions of Americans get sick from eating contaminated food each
    year.
        One threat we must address immediately comes from a foodborne
    pathogen called Listeria, which has been the cause of recent recalls of
    hot dogs and luncheon meats and several deadly outbreaks of disease. The
    most famous case emerged a year and a half ago, when Listeria killed 21
    people and sickened 100 others, all of whom had eaten contaminated meat
    from a single plant. It was the Nation's most deadly food safety
    epidemic in 15 years.
        Fortunately, Listeria is less common than salmonella, E. coli, and
    other foodborne bacteria, but unfortunately, it is far more dangerous. A
    staggering 20 percent of Listeria infections result in death. As with
    other food-borne bacteria, it's rarely healthy adults who come down with
    Listeria infections. Instead, it's the most vulnerable among us:
    infants, the elderly, pregnant women, and those whose immune systems
    have been weakened by chemotherapy or AIDS.
        While our administration has already taken a number of important
    steps to reduce the threat of Listeria, it's clear we must do more to
    protect Americans from this deadly pathogen. So today I'm directing the
    Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services to prepare an
    aggressive new strategy to significantly reduce the risk of illness from
    Listeria. As part

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    of this strategy, we will propose new regulations to require scientific
    approaches, such as systematic testing for Listeria at food-processing
    plants, not just random checks. This and other measures will allow us to
    cut in half the number of Listeria-related illnesses over the next 5
    years and save well over 1,000 lives.
        Today I call on the food industry to work with us as we develop our
    new Listeria strategy. And I call on Congress to help us strengthen food
    safety across the board. Just this week, unfortunately, the Congress
    took a major step backward by refusing to fully fund our food safety
    initiative. In fact, they've now voted to block funding for our new
    efforts to protect millions of American families from the dangers of
    salmonella poisoning in eggs. We should be doing more, not less, to
    ensure the safety of our food.
        If we work together, we can make real gains this year. We can
    increase the number of inspections of domestic and imported foods. We
    can expand the FDA's authority to turn away imported food that does not
    meet our high safety standards. And at long last, we can give the
    Department of Agriculture the authority to recall bad food and impose
    civil penalties for repeat violations. After all, the Department has the
    right to penalize a circus to protect animals from harm; it's about time
    we gave them the tools they need to protect human beings from harm, too.
        Ensuring the safety of our food and the health of our people are
    among the most important parts of our citizens' basic contract with
    their Government. For the sake of millions of Americans, especially the
    most vulnerable among us, it's an obligation we simply must work
    together to uphold.
        Thanks for listening.

    Note: The address was recorded at 12:47 p.m. on May 5 in the Cabinet
    Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on May 6. The
    transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on
    May 5 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast.