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Congress Set to Scrap State Food Safety Laws

March 6, 2006

Food Safety • At Least 2 Deaths Reported in Massive E.Coli Ground Beef Recall • Food Toxin Linked To Liver Cancer • Senate Urged To Pass Food Safety Modernization Act • Consumers Have Little Trust That Food They Buy is Safe and Healthy • Consumers Union Opposes USDA Proposal On Salad Safety • New Food Registry Enables Quick Reporting of Dangerous Products • Nothing Simple about Food Dating, Expiration Dates or 'Use-By' Dates • Feds Announce New Food Safety Strategies • House Passes Food Safety Bill • Feds Seize Kentucky Livestock Kept In "Filthy Conditions" • FDA Tries To Improve Egg Safety • Tainted Dry Milk Recall Continues To Grow • Salmonella Scare Prompts Dairy Recall • Most Consumers Lack Confidence In Food Safety, Survey Says • House Committee Unanimously Passes Food Safety Bill • Food Safety Bill Aired In House • House Committee Moves Forward On Food Safety Legislation • Illinois Meat Packer Recalls 95,898 Pounds Of Beef • Alfalfa Sprouts Linked to Salmonella • Food Safety Results Level Off • Sprouts Recalled Due To Possible Listeria • FDA Warns About Listeria in Salmon • Food Industry Accused of Big Tobacco's Bad Habits • FDA Closes Tortilla Plant • Surface Water May Be Source Of Salmonella • Key Senator Blasts FDA Over Food Safety > • FDA Rolls Out Food Safety Plan • Brits Get Treats, Yanks Get Tricks From Food Companies • Hartz Recalls Rawhide Chips After Possible Salmonella Contamination • Vermont Firm Recalls Possibly-Tainted Ground Beef • Beef Sent to Puerto Rico May Be Contaminated with E. coli • Technology Offers Revolution in Food Safety Testing • Chinese Gorillas Fall Ill as Melamine Scandal Widens • Alfalfa Sprouts Recalled in Salmonella Outbreak • CDC Gives "All Clear" On Salmonella Outbreak • One Death Reported in Oklahoma E. coli Outbreak • Feds Approve Irradiation of Spinach, Lettuce • FDA Issues Warning About Frozen Seafood • Whole Foods Extends Beef Recall • Whole Foods Recalls Fresh Ground Beef • Six New E. coli Cases Reported In Massachusetts --- • More ...

Legislation that would nullify many food safety laws and prevent states from issuing warnings about groceries is poised for passage through the U.S. House of Representatives this week despite concern that it could endanger human health.

A number of state attorneys general and consumer groups are mounting a last-ditch effort to block passage of HR 4167.

So far, 39 attorneys general, environmental groups, state officials, and consumer advocates have called upon House leaders to reject the proposal, which effectively eliminates the ability of states to govern food safety. The state officials have called the bill a threat to food safety and state's rights.

National Uniformity for Food Act of 2005 would amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) to "prohibit any state or political subdivision from establishing or continuing in effect for any food in interstate commerce:

(1) any requirement that is not identical to specified FFDCA provisions (that would result in materially different requirements), including those related to adulterated foods, unsafe food additives, and new animal drugs; or

(2) any notification requirement that provides for a warning concerning the food's safety that is not identical to FFDCA provisions."

The House is currently scheduled to vote on Wednesday to pass HR 4167 and send it to the Senate for final action. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the measure would cost taxpayers more than $100 million, but notes that bill is so vaguely written that its costs and effects are difficult to predict.

"The scope of the state and local regulations that would be affected by the legislation is ambiguous," the CBO report declares. "For example, it is unclear whether certain provisions of the legislation would preempt only state and local requirements dealing with food labeling or whether the preemption would apply more broadly to other food safety requirements."

Among the organizations lobbying against the measure are the Natural Resources Defense Council, National Environmental Trust, Center for Science in the Public Interest, and Consumer's Union. However, passage in the House is all but assured, as the measure has 227 cosponsors.

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