Complain about a product or service

Senator Pushes For Single Food Inspection Agency

By Mark Huffman
ConsumerAffairs.com

July 9, 2007

Food Safety • 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 ...

The federal agencies charged with safeguarding the U.S. food supply have come under fire recently in the wake of nationwide recalls and quarantines of tainted pork, spinach, peanut butter and pet food. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) says he will press Congress to reorganize the government’s food inspection system.

“The product recalls that we have seen in the past few months – first with pet food and then with food intended for human consumption – have shown us that foodborne illness is a real threat in this country,” Durbin said.

Durbin also wants to hold the Chinese government and their exporters accountable for sending contaminated products into the U.S. for sale. In the last several months contaminated toothpaste, vitamin c, monkfish, and pet food have been discovered.

“‘Made in China’ is rapidly becoming a warning label for American consumers,” said Durbin. “We need something better than a food safety system that operates on a case by case basis. We need to hold the Chinese government and their exporters accountable for sending contaminated products to the U.S.”

Durbin cited an estimate by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that as many as 76 million people suffer from food poisoning each year.

Of those individuals, approximately 325,000 will be hospitalized, and more than 5,000 will die. Children and the elderly are especially vulnerable to food-borne pathogens.

With emerging pathogens, a population at high risk for food-borne illnesses and an increasing volume of food imports, this situation is unlikely to improve without decisive action, Durbin said.

Durbin said he is proposing a single food safety agency with the authority to protect the food supply based on sound scientific principles. Currently, there are at least 12 different federal agencies and 35 different laws governing food safety. With overlapping jurisdictions, federal agencies often lack accountability on food safety-related issues.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.