[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 6] [Extensions of Remarks] [Pages 7827-7828] [From the U.S. 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 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 [[Page 7828]] 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. ____________________