WASHINGTON - Two Senate committee leaders agreed to write their own meat-safety bill Wednesday, setting aside, perhaps for good, a Clinton administration proposal that called for fines of up to $100,000 a day for violations.
"We're not going to have legislation in this calendar year," said Agriculture Committee chairman Richard Lugar. "This melding of views is going to take some time."
Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman found few friends on Capitol Hill for the administration proposal, written in the wake of the record recall last summer of 25 million pounds of hamburger patties potentially contaminated by the disease-causing E. coli O157:H7 bacteria.
It would give the Agriculture Department the power to mandate a recall -- they now are voluntary -- and to impose civil fines up to $100,000 a day per violation as well as to refuse to inspect meat at plants with repeated or willful violations.
Members of Lugar's committee, during a hearing, accused Glickman of a bureaucratic power grab that would do nothing to make meat safer. Senators Bob Kerrey, D-Neb., and Pat Roberts, R-Kan., said the department failed to take fundamental steps to improve meat safety.
"It seems to me whatever legislation (advances) has got to be supplemented with something that goes to the heart of the problem," said Lugar, R-Ind., who wanted to include techniques, such as irradiation, to kill dangerous bacteria. "A whole lot more has to occur."
Glickman said he could not give "a yes or no answer" when Lugar asked if any of the powers sought in the administratioin bill would have made a difference in any recall in five years.
Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, a sponsor of the administration's bill, pledged at the opening of the hearing to work closely with Lugar "to develop a sensible and comprehensive legislative package." Lugar made a similar vow to Harkin.
Several senators and witnesses urged approval of irradiation as a pathogen-killing treatment for red meat.
A spokesman for the Food and Drug Administration said in a telephone interview that the agency was likely to approve irradiation for red meat by the end of this year. FDA has been reviewing the issue for three years.
Carol Tucker Foreman, speaking for the Safe Food Coalition of union and consumer groups, warned against embracing irradiation as the single answer to meat contaminants.
"We are extremely concerned that irradiation not become a substitute for sanitation and...we are very concerned that such will become the case," she said.
Irradiation relies on low-power ionization to destroy bacteria. It has been approved for spices and pork but consumer acceptance has been low. Proponents say the treatment is mistakenly associated with atomic radiation.
Despite the stony reception at the hearing, Glickman said he believed senators "want to work positively on a legislative solution."
"I think we can work out some consensus on this legislation," Glickman said after listing lawmakers' interest in irradiation and more research on preventitive measures.
Meatpackers and ranchers solidly opposed the administration bill. It was filed Tuesday in the Senate. No companion bill has been filed in the House.
While prospects for the administration bill appeared dim, a food industry lobbyist said momentum could build abruptly -- "It only takes one more outbreak" of food-borne illness.
Consumer groups said the administratioin bill was a sensible step to assure meat plants did their best to prevent microbial contamination. The meat industry said federal work should focus on prevention, rather than punishment.
Press for Information on Placing Your Ad Here
Meat Industry Insights News Service
P.O. Box 553
Northport, NY 11768
Phone: 631-757-4010
Fax: 631-757-4060
E-mail: sflanagan@sprintmail.com
Web Site: http://www.spcnetwork.com/mii