By Mark Huffman
ConsumerAffairs.Com
August 24, 2010
Two members of a key House committee have sent letters to two egg
producers at the center of the nationwide egg recall, requesting
documents concerning their operations.
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), a subcommittee chairman, sent letters to Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms of Iowa regarding recent voluntary recalls of eggs produced by their farms due to potential Salmonella contamination.
The two firms have recalled more than a half-billion eggs that could be tainted with Salmonella. The eggs are linked to an outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis that federal health officials have been monitoring since May 10. An estimated 1,300 consumers have been sickened, by official estimates. The actual number may be much higher.
The two lawmakers requested the inspection records for the companies' facilities, the companies' internal protocols and standards for monitoring and analyzing their products, and documents related to allegations of health, safety, environmental, or animal cruelty violations for the companies or any related companies.
In the letters, Stupak and Waxman requested documents and information relating to the recent recall of more than half a billion eggs by the two companies, including when the companies first became aware of the Salmonella contamination and when they first notified government officials of the issue.
Inspection records
Stupak and Waxman also requested company inspection records, internal protocols for product monitoring, all documents relating to safety practices of egg production, and all communications among the companies' personnel regarding possible salmonella contamination.
"The recent recall of potentially hazardous eggs is yet another example of how our nation's food safety system is broken," Stupak said. "It is important that we discover exactly what happened to cause this recall so we can move swiftly to stop possible further contaminations in our food supply."
As chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Stupak has held 11 food safety hearings over the past four years examining what he calls the failure of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the food industry to protect the nation's food supply. The subcommittee examined breakdowns in the system highlighted by E. coli in meat and fresh greens as well as the 2008 high-profile outbreak of salmonella linked first to tomatoes and later traced to jalapeno peppers.
Food Safety Bill stalled
Findings of the investigation and related hearings led Stupak and fellow Energy and Commerce Committee members John Dingell (D-MI) and Frank Pallone (D-NJ) to craft H.R. 2749, the Food Safety and Enhancement Act of 2009. Stupak says H.R. 2749 would establish a national food tracing system, making it easier for the FDA to respond to outbreaks of food borne illness.
The bill would provide the FDA with subpoena power, mandatory recall authority and require country of origin labeling on food. The bill overwhelmingly passed the House in July 2009 in a bipartisan vote. Despite strong support among many industry groups and the FDA, the Senate has yet to act on food safety legislation.
"Had strong reforms like those in H.R. 2749 already been in place, the FDA would have had the authority to issue a mandatory recall and take aggressive steps to stop the spread of these dangerous eggs," Stupak said. "The Senate already has countless examples and studies from the past few years as to why we need food safety reform but this egg recall gives them yet one more. As we investigate the egg recall I hope members of the Senate will realize how important the safety of our food supply is and pass our food safety legislation when they return in September."
