Consumer Federation supports single food safety agency bill
January 29, 2015 |04:20 PM
The Consumer Federation of America announced late Wednesday that it supports the Safe Food Act of 2015, the single food safety agency bill introduced by Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn.
“Food safety is a critical public health issue,” said Chris Waldrop, director of the Food Policy Institute at Consumer Federation of America. “But right now, responsibility for food safety is scattered among 15 different agencies. We need one independent agency focused on the safety of the entire food supply.”
In a news release, Durbin and DeLauro said the fragmented responsibility makes it difficult to reduce the risk of foodborne illness and respond to outbreaks.
Durbin and DeLauro said the Safe Food Act would:
Only Democrats so far are listed as cosponsors: Sens. Dianne Feinstein of California, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Reps. Barbara Lee of California, Louise Slaughter of New York, James Langevin of Rhode Island, Bobby Rush of Illinois, Charles Rangel of New York, Jim McDermott of Washington and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton of the District of Columbia.
“Food safety is a critical public health issue,” said Chris Waldrop, director of the Food Policy Institute at Consumer Federation of America. “But right now, responsibility for food safety is scattered among 15 different agencies. We need one independent agency focused on the safety of the entire food supply.”
In a news release, Durbin and DeLauro said the fragmented responsibility makes it difficult to reduce the risk of foodborne illness and respond to outbreaks.
Durbin and DeLauro said the Safe Food Act would:
- Transfer and consolidate food safety authorities for inspections, enforcement and labeling into a single food safety agency
- Provide authority to require the recall of unsafe food
- Require risk assessments and preventive control plans to reduce adulteration
- Authorize enforcement actions to strengthen contaminant performance standards
- Improve foreign food import inspections
- Require full food traceability to better identify sources of outbreaks
Only Democrats so far are listed as cosponsors: Sens. Dianne Feinstein of California, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Reps. Barbara Lee of California, Louise Slaughter of New York, James Langevin of Rhode Island, Bobby Rush of Illinois, Charles Rangel of New York, Jim McDermott of Washington and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton of the District of Columbia.
