WASHINGTON - In testimony provided to the Senate Committee on proposed legislation to give the Secretary of Agriculture administrative power to mandate the recall of meat and poultry products, the National Food Processors Association (NFPA) called the proposal "an attempt to fix something that is not broken."
Kelly Johnston, NFPA's Executive Vice President of Government Affairs and Communications, commented that "Giving the Secretary of Agriculture the administrative power to mandate the recall of meat and poultry products, without judicial review, is an unwarranted expansion of government power. We believe it is not only unnecessary but potentially harmful to the integrity of the nation's food safety system. The current system of cooperative recalls has proven successful in protecting consumers from adulterated or misbranded products."
On October 8, the Senate Agriculture Committee conducted a hearing on the "Food Safety Enforcement Enhancement Act," legislation transmitted to Congress on September 5, 1997, by the Honorable Dan Glickman, Secretary of Agriculture. NFPA provided written testimony on this legislation to the Committee.
Johnston noted that "In 1996, a Texas state health official mistakenly suggested that strawberries from California were the apparent source of an outbreak of cyclospora. The Centers for Disease Control and other government officials later concluded the source was raspberries from Guatemala. But the initial report caused an estimated $20 million in economic damage to the California strawberry industry. This incident demonstrates that government officials can and do make mistakes."
"With USDA direction and control of the recall, USDA should be responsible for inappropriate actions connected with the recall," Johnston noted. "Under Secretary Glickman's proposal, the Secretary of Agriculture would have the administrative power to 1) dictate the terms of a "voluntarily" recall under terms he prescribes; 2) order a recall on his belief of a "reasonable probability" of a public health threat; 3) proceed with a recall even before the company in question gets a limited hearing on the recall order; 4) dictate all the terms of a recall to be carried out by the company; and 5) impose civil monetary penalties of up to $100,000 a day for each law violation. NFPA believes that is too much power to place in the hands of one political appointee, particularly without judicial review or indemnification."
Johnston pointed out that "The government has an additional tool at its disposal to protect consumers, the media. If a company does not cooperate fully with a recommendation for recall, the FDA Commissioner or Agriculture Secretary need only issue a press release -- "adverse publicity" -- to alert consumers. But adverse publicity is rarely, if ever, needed because the government and industry have outstanding and historic record of cooperation on food safety issues. The food industry obviously has a vested interest in marketing safe, quality products. Nothing will destroy a food company faster than marketing an unsafe product," he added.
Johnston said that "Approximately three years ago, the USDA called on the FDA to approve a petition submitted by a New Jersey company to approve irradiation for red meat. Unfortunately, FDA has yet to act on the petition, in spite of a six-month statutory deadline to act on such petitions. But while it seeks administrative power to conduct mandatory recalls, USDA has been strangely silent on the safety and potential of irradiation as an important food safety tool to prevent foodborne illness caused by E.coli 0157:H7, Salmonella, and other diseases, and thus reduce the need for recalls involving such outbreaks."
Johnston concluded that "NFPA respectfully asks the Committee and the Congress to reject this proposal. USDA would serve the public far better by focusing its attention on prevention of foodborne illness, instead of punishment."
The National Food Processors Association is the principal scientific and technical trade association representing the $430 billion food processing industry, the nation's second largest manufacturing industry. NFPA is the leading authority on food science safety for the food industry.
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