WASHINGTON - Consumer activists say that even after the unprecedented recall of frozen hamburger patties Congress may be slow to give the Agriculture Department the power to order a meat recall.
At present recalls are voluntary, but Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said he would ask Congress in September to pass legislation giving him the authority to mandate a recall and to fine foodmakers.
"I think it will take a couple of years to educate Congress and get this law through," said Carol Tucker Foreman, who was in charge of meat inspection during the Carter era and now is a leader of a food safety coalition.
Leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees, which oversee the meat inspection system, were not immediately available for comment. A spokesman for the Senate committee said "we will follow up on all of this" when Congress reconvened early next month.
But Tucker and other consumer advocates noted that opposition from the meat industry and disinterest among lawmakers had foiled past proposals for powers like civil penalties, recall authority and a system to "trace back" bad meat to the feedlot.
Meat industry groups were not immediately available for comment.
Consumer groups said the Agriculture Department should have the power to order a recall. Otherwise, said Heather Klinkhamer of Safe Tables Our Priority, consumers were "vulnerable to the whims of industry" and action might be delayed.
During a news conference to announce the recall by Hudson Foods Inc. of a record 25 million pounds of hamburger patties, Glickman said he agreed that "one of the biggest loopholes" was lack of federal recall power.
"When Congress comes back from recess, I will have ready for them legislation that gives me the authority to order recalls as well as to impose civil fines," Glickman said.
The administration supported two similar proposals earlier this decade which failed.
"The reality is it's going to be tough, even with this situation, to get this legislation enacted," said Carolyn Smith DeWaal of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
But Bob Hahn of Public Voice for Food and Health Policy said the record meat recall "would give it (a recall bill) a better chance at passage."
DeWaal said recall authority could be a test of Congress' willingness to give regulators "the authority they need." The Food and Drug Administration, which oversees the rest of the U.S. food supply, also lacks power to mandate a recall of contaminated food, DeWaal said.
Although foodmakers now must agree to undertake a recall, the Agriculture Department has a persuasive lever -- potential removal of federal meat inspection, needed for interstate sales -- on its side, a congressional staff worker and a private consultant said.
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