BILL INTRODUCED TO GIVE USDA POWER TO ORDER MEAT RECALLS

JOYCE BARRETT

WASHINGTON (FNS) -- A measure that would give the federal government authority to order recalls of contaminated meat was introduced last week in the House and Senate.

Sponsored by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., the measure also would give the U.S. Department of Agriculture authority to levy civil monetary penalties for violations of basic food-safety rules. The USDA currently has authority to collect fines from violators of the Pecan Promotion Act and the Animal Welfare Act, but not from violators of food-safety rules.

In announcing the proposal in a Capitol Hill press conference, Harkin said that the USDA's recent adoption of the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point system to combat pathogenic bacteria in meat and poultry slaughter and poultry processing plants was a huge step forward, but that more needs to be done.

"Consumers feel directly the success or failure of food-safety protections," Harkin said, "but consumers can only do so much. Even the most careful consumer cannot eliminate all the dangers of unsafe foods."

Pallone said the bill would "protect consumers from bad actor companies who refuse to recall tainted food from stores. Under current law, the FDA must rely on companies to voluntarily recall tainted foods and in many instances cannot monitor whether companies are actually cooperating with such recalls. The legislation will provide the FDA with additional and necessary tools to recall contaminated foods when needed."

A spokesman for the Grocery Manufacturers of America here called the proposal "duplicative and unnecessary" because it will burden food manufacturers with another layer of federal bureaucracy.

"The food and consumer products industry employs the most efficient and effective state-of-the-art technology to ensure food-safety standards are maintained and strengthened," said Gene Grabowski, vice president of communications for the GMA. "What our industry really needs instead of these bills are research, science-based standards and continued education for consumers."

Kelly Johnston, executive vice president of government affairs and communications for the National Food Processors Association here, said that more government regulations do not mean enhanced food safety. "It does translate into a more politicized food-safety system, which is bad news for industry, government and consumers."

Johnston instead recommended that backers of the bill focus on research, risk assessment and education efforts to improve food safety. "We need to focus on preventing food-safety problems, not on creating unnecessary, punitive, big-government schemes," Johnston said.

The bill has the backing of the Clinton administration and Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman has asked Congress to grant the USDA enhanced authority for ensuring the safety of meat and poultry. Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, held a hearing on the administration's plan last year and offered his own proposal that includes irradiation.

A Lugar spokeswoman said he prefers to focus on preventing food contamination rather than reacting to problems and has remained noncommittal on Harkin's bill.