SINGLE FOOD SAFETY AGENCY

NCBA Staff Contact: 
Kristina Butts, Manager of Legislative Affairs
202-347-0228
kbutts@beef.org

Summary

The creation of a single food safety agency has already emerged as a topic of debate among the 110^th Congress.  Two of the key factors bringing this topic of discussion to the forefront in 2007 include:

1)       The champion of the legislation (Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn) is now chairwoman of the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, and

2)       The recent E. coli 0157:H7 illness outbreaks in produce garnered national attention.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) introduced the Safe Food Act (H.R. 1148) on February 14, 2007.  Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) introduced a companion bill in the Senate (S. 654) on February 15, 2007.  The bills call for the development of a single food safety agency and the implementation of a food safety program to ‘standardize American food safety activities.’  As directed by the legislation, the new agency – tentatively called the Food Safety Administration – would be responsible for:

·         Regular, but random, inspections of all food processing plants. 

·         A categorized review process for all foods to monitor and inspect them based upon their risk, not their name. 

·         Increased oversight of imported foods.

·         Established requirements for tracing foods to point of origin.

NCBA Policy

At NCBA’s Annual Meeting in Nashville, January 31-February 3, 2007, NCBA members approved interim policy to oppose the creation of a single food safety agency and strongly support continued cooperation between USDA and FDA to further protect public health.  U.S. beef products are already extensively regulated with daily inspections by government officials. The infrastructure works for beef, and cattlemen don’t want to jeopardize that success or future improvements by changing the U.S. food safety infrastructure for meat products. Significant progress has been made regarding food safety in the meat sector, and it is not clear how rearranging chairs and titles could do anything but harm valuable progress.

Providing the safest beef in the world is NCBA’s number one priority. The incidence of E. coli O157:H7 in ground beef has declined more than 80 percent between 2000 and 2005, according to USDA statistics. U.S. cattle producers dedicate time and resources to reducing the incidence of foodborne pathogens in beef and have done so for many years.

Cattle producers have invested more than $22 million since 1993 in beef safety research, leading to the development of best practices which have served as a road map in reducing E. coli O157:H7 in beef products. These best practices are in addition to strict oversight by the USDA. The practices are continually developed, enhanced and implemented in all sectors and include proper animal care on farm; sophisticated intervention technologies at processing; and proper storage and food preparation at retail and foodservice. More details on these best practices are available at www.bifsco.org.

Each sector within the beef production chain has made significant strides in lowering the rate of foodborne illnesses. The incidence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 prevalence in beef products has declined at an impressive rate and these illnesses continue to decline.  The beef industry remains committed to further reducing and eventually eliminating E. coli 0157:H7.

In addition, since January 2003, NCBA has hosted an annual Beef Industry Safety Summit to address the industry’s plan to continue the fight against foodborne pathogens. Participants discuss and develop industry-wide science-based strategies, research and “best practices” aimed at making beef even safer. The summits convene representatives from all cattle and beef industry segments including cattle production, fabrication, processing, retail and foodservice. 

Background

Currently, the jurisdiction of the federal government over food safety falls under at least 12 different agencies.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture oversees meat, poultry and egg product inspection, while the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) oversees almost all other food products.  Smaller responsibilities are held by the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Agricultural Marketing Service, for example. 

The National Academies of Science (NAS) has reported in 1998 that the duplication of efforts among the differing agencies would be trimmed by consolidating into one agency. 

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has also reported several times (1994, 1999, 2001, and 2005) supporting the consolidation.

In the most recent sessions of Congress, bills have been dropped on both the House and Senate side to create a single food safety agency.  Hearings have been held on the subject, but no action has been taken on the bills, in either a Republican or Democrat controlled Congress. 

Key Points: 

·         The safety of the U.S. beef supply continues to improve due to the commitment of the beef industry and USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to enhance the protection of public health.

·         Efforts to assemble a single food safety agency could result in creating a much bigger bureaucracy that could threaten the progress made on beef safety and in protecting public health.  In addition, a complicated transition into one agency could cause a temporary lapse in effective monitoring and inspection of the food supply.

·         Media attention has recently focused on the issue of food borne pathogens because of E.Coli outbreaks in spinach in October 2006 and in certain food service establishments in December 2006.  As consumers and as beef producers, we closely follow these investigations and appreciate the thoroughness of the government agencies looking into the matter.  Still, evidence shows that incidence of E.Coli in beef products is rapidly declining thanks to best practices put in place along the entire beef production chain.

·         USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service announced February 28, 2005, that the percentage of E. coli O157:H7 positive ground beef samples has declined 80 percent since 2000. 

·         A report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in collaboration with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and USDA showed that the overall incidence of E. coli O157:H7 cases has declined 42 percent since 1996.  The CDC also reports that the drop in E. coli illnesses meets the U.S. Healthy People 2010 goal six years ahead of schedule.