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Congress Set to Scrap State Food Safety Laws

March 6, 2006

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 • FDA Says It Found Salmonella Source In Mexico • U.S. Peppers Get Clean Bill Of Health • Jalapeño Peppers from Mexico Recalled • Tomatoes Get the All-Clear From FDA • Salmonella Toll Quietly Climbs • USDA to List Retailers in Meat Recalls • Emergency Regs Needed for Tracking Produce, Food Groups Say • Nebraska Beef Recall Expanded to 5.3 Million Pounds • Consumer Group Presses Feds to Fix Food System • Kroger Expands Ground Beef Recall • Salmonella Outbreak is Biggest Ever Tied to Produce • E. coli Outbreak May Be Linked To Kroger Ground Beef • Salmonella: Trickier Than Imagined • Congressional Report Faults FDA Inaction • Tomatoes Off the Menu as Feds Search for Source • FDA 'Inaction' Blamed for Salmonella Outbreak • Restaurants Shun Tomatoes In Wake Of Salmonella Outbreak • FDA Warns Of Tomato-Linked Salmonella • USDA Bans Downer Cow Slaughter • CDC Links 2006 Salmonella Outbreak to Dog Food --- • 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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