Food Supply

The Food Safety Bill That Would Make Us Less Safe

Posted by PUPPETGOV on Oct 7th, 2009 and filed under BIG BROTHER, Headlines, NEWS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

1263023746_1a52cc4aacBy  James J. Gormley~American Chronicle

Backyard growers who sell pumpkins and other produce on their own property, or at a local farmer´s market, will be in for a surprise if Senator Durbin´s Senate Bill 510 (S.B. 510) passes: they will be receiving a visit from inspectors.

Products not grown according to designated standards will be considered “adulterated” and their business records will be subject to warrantless searches by inspectors from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) without any evidence needed to prove that they have violated any law.

Wonder why Federal agents have imposed martial law by quarantining your town? Under S.B. 510´s House counterpart bill, H.R. 2749 (Section 133b, “Authority to Prohibit or Restrict the Movement of Food”), sponsored by Congressman Dingell, the Secretary of Health and Human Services will have the power to prohibit all movement of all food within a geographic area, whether the food is in your mother´s grocery bag in her Ford Taurus or on a flatbed. No court order will be needed, just a phone call to the appropriate state official and a public announcement will be sufficient.

Are you upset that raw milk or raw milk cheeses (like feta) are no longer available in the U.S.? This could happen thanks to the “performance standards” powers that would be granted to the FDA by S.B. 510, especially since the agency has made it clear that it is vehemently opposed to the consumption of very popular raw milk products.

Shocked that U.S. food safety regulations strangely match those of other countries? Section 306 of S.B. 510 would require “Recommendations to harmonize requirements under the Codex Alimentarius.”

What about food supplement manufacturers, suppliers, distributors and health food stores? Will they be ensnared in this bill´s 1984-esque net? Very possibly so.

S.B. 510 (which would cost Americans $825 million in 2010 alone) and the House of Representatives version of this bill, H.R. 2749, which did pass under suspended rules, do not address the root causes of the U.S.’s food safety problems, which were highlighted in both a recent campaign by the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund (FTCLDF) and by a letter to 99 U.S. senators by the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund (R-CALF USA).

According to consumer health advocacy group, Citizens for Health, if this Senate version passes it would:

>> Undermine DSHEA and move the U.S. one step closer to harmonizing our standards under Codex with those of restrictive regimes like the European Union. (DSHEA, or the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, says that supplements are food and are safe for consumption unless proven otherwise – ensuring that millions of Americans are able to enjoy access to safe, effective and affordable dietary supplements).

>> Give the FDA inappropriate, and unprecedented, control over farms and direct-to-consumer distributors. If passed, the bills would charge facilities an annual $500 registration fee, require additional record keeping, and expand the FDA´s authority to quarantine geographic areas for alleged food safety problems – all without significantly improving food safety.

>> Harm U.S. organic farmers by imposing overlapping regulations.

>> Hurt food supplements and health-food stores by imposing standards that are already covered by the AER (Adverse Event Reporting) Law, cGMPs (current Good Manufacturing Practices) and food facility registration.

>> Cripple local food co-ops, farm stands, independent ranchers and artisanal food producers by imposing unnecessary standards and unfair bureaucratic burdens.

Clearly, S. 510, while claiming to increase food safety would actually leave consumers more vulnerable to foodborne disease since the FDA would be required to use a mathematical algorithm-centered, risk-based food safety system called HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) rather than doing old-fashioned, effective physical, on-site inspections in plants, factory farms and slaughterhouses, where the actual food safety concerns are.

Furthermore, the U.S. has abrogated its duty to inspect and enforce food safety standards, both here and abroad, by allowing processing plants to regulate themselves under the failed HACCP system; and it has embraced policies that have driven independent U.S. farmers and ranchers out of business and replaced them with corporate-owned, industrialized food production units that are known to cut food safety corners to maximize corporate profits.

So what do we need to do? One thing consumers can do is visit Citizens for Health (www.citizens.org) for an opportunity to send a letter to senators about S.B. 510, the “food safety bill” that isn´t.

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Food safety regulation: Sen. Dick Durbin-proposed legislation to empower FDA has many backers

Food safety regulation: Sen. Dick Durbin-proposed legislation to empower FDA has many backers

10/22/2009

 

By Andrew Zajac
Chicago Tribune

WASHINGTON -  -- Legislation granting the Food and Drug Administration new powers to oversee the nation's food supply has elbowed its way onto Congress' crammed calendar with bipartisan support and rare agreement between consumer groups and an industry stung by the massive costs of product recalls.

The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., would require the FDA to step up inspections of food facilities and to issue new rules to improve the quality of imported food and to combat contaminants in fresh produce. It would also give the agency authority to recall products on its own, instead of relying on industry cooperation.

"Hardly a week goes by that there isn't a report of an outbreak of food-borne illness or death in America," Durbin said. "The current system really just reacts to food illness. We have to have a system that is protective of consumers" by preventing outbreaks or nipping them in the bud.

The bill is slated for a committee hearing Thursday even as lawmakers wrestle with the massive tasks of overhauling the health care system, writing new regulations for the financial services industry and shaping major measures on global warming and education.

The reason for a sense of urgency is evident from opinion polls. A July survey for the Pew Charitable Trusts found that nearly 90 percent of voters favored new food safety measures similar to those found in Durbin's bill and a slightly more expansive proposal that the House passed last summer.

"There's broad public support. It would be a quick win for both parties," said Erik Olson, director of chemical and food safety programs, in Pew's Health & Human Services Policy program. "This is a rare situation where the industry is shoulder to shoulder with consumers."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that food-borne illness causes 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths annually in the U.S.

Beyond hazards to health, the food industry has paid a hefty toll.

Growers and distributors lost an estimated $100 million in a 2008 recall of salmonella-tainted jalapeno peppers, and tomatoes initially blamed for the outbreak, and a similar amount in a spinach recall two years earlier, said Patrick Delaney, a spokesman for United Fresh Produce Association, which represents fruit and vegetable producers.

A recall of peanut products early this year cost cereal-maker Kellogg Co. about $70 million.

Still unsettled, however, is the major question of how to pay for the legislation.

The cost of reforms in the House bill is estimated at $3.7 billion over five years, with $1.4 billion of that to come from a $500-per-facility fee on food-makers.

Durbin said he doesn't yet have a price tag for his bill.

An indication of the breadth of support for reform is the list of co-sponsors on Durbin's bill. It includes five Republicans, including Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, both conservatives from Georgia, a state hard hit by the peanut recall.

"This legislation affords regulators the authority they need to better identify vulnerabilities in our food supply while maintaining the high level of food safety most Americans enjoy and take for granted," Chambliss said in a statement.

Scott Faber, vice president of federal affairs for the Grocery Manufacturers Association, a trade group that represents food-makers, said the current regulatory regime has been overwhelmed by the size and scale of a global food supply network, making an overhaul a compelling need.

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Senate rejects bill to help California's farmers

H.R.2997 Amendment 2500 - Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010

  • Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010 as reported to senate.
  • Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010 as passed house.

The United States Senate rejected a bill that could have temporarily helped (California's Central Valley) the valley's water problems. The Democrat-controlled Senate rejected the amendment that would have effectively restored full irrigation deliveries for a year. California Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein also voted against the amendment and likened it to Pearl Harbor because it was brought up without her prior knowledge. Feinstein said, “So, in a way, this is a kind of Pearl Harbor on everything that we're trying to do.”

(NOTE: THIS AMENDMENT WOULD HAVE TURNED THE WATER BACK ON FOR 1 YEAR TO PROVIDE TIME FOR ALL LEADERS AT THE LOCAL, STATE AND FEDERAL LEVELS TO EXPLORE LONG-TERM SOLUTIONS AND WOULD ALSO GIVE FARMERS THE PREDICTABILITY TO PLAN FOR NEXT YEAR'S CROPS. The pumps are currently on, but are set to be turned off again in December, leaving the valley dry as planting season comes around. )

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CBS47 - Last Update: 9/23 8:54 am

The United States Senate rejected a bill that could have temporarily helped the Valley's water problems.

The Democrat-controlled Senate rejected the amendment that would have effectively restored full irrigation deliveries for a year.

California Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein also voted against the amendment and likened it to Pearl Harbor because it was brought up without her prior knowledge. Feinstein said, “So, in a way, this is a kind of Pearl Harbor on everything that we're trying to do.”

California Democrat Barbara Boxer also voted against the amendment.

Had the bill passed, it would have temporality stopped federal funding for biological opinions to protect fish like the delta smelt.

Senator Feinstein said, “So I don't quite understand what's going on here and that's the reason for my objection.  I'm not going to put the state of California and the Bay Delta in the threat of another lawsuit.”

Many Valley farmers are upset that earlier this year, water pumps to Valley farming communities were cut-back to protect the delta smelt.

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(NOTE: This is not an issue of 1 state, but is quickly becoming a national issue. California's Central Valley provides 13% of the nation's food supply:  94% of America's tomatoes, 93% of our broccoli, 89% of our carrots, 86% of our garlic, 78% of our lettuce, 90% of our strawberrries, 88% of our grapes, just as an example. As a result of this problem, tens of thousands of people are out of work.At one time, the unemployment rate has reached 40%.)

September 22, 2009 - Senator Jim Demint addresses Congress

The amendment failed. Both of California's Senators, Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, voted against the amendment, as did Arizona Senator John McCain.

 

 

   

California Farmers Demand Obama's Help

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," August 11, 2009. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: Now tonight, we bring you an update on a story we covered back in May.

The Central Valley of California was once considered the bread basket of America. But now farms all over that region have been allowed to dry up. Now why? Because of a 2-inch minnow on the endangered species list.

Now, environmentalists claim that the fish was getting caught in the water pumps that provided the farms with water, so to protect the tiny fish, the pumps were turned off. And farmers, well, they were left high and dry, and entire communities are now feeling the impact.

Some towns in the area are now facing unemployment rates of up to 40 percent. And many residents are now forced to visit food banks. But the people of that great area, they've had enough, and they're speaking out tonight.

And joining me live from California is Congressman Devin Munes and comedian and activist Paul Rodriguez.

• Video: Watch Sean's interview

Guys, I don't know if we can get a shot. It looks like you have over a thousand people there. Is that right?

PAUL RODRIGUEZ, COMEDIAN/ACTIVIST: Well over a thousand, Sean. This is a testament of your message is getting to these people. They've been out here for hours. The only water this field has seen is our sweat. But it's more than we've gotten from the government.

HANNITY: Well, Paul, we have had you on about this before. I want you to tell the entire story, because it's almost unfathomable. Literally, farms are drying up.

RODRIGUEZ: People don't believe it.

HANNITY: Go ahead, tell them. Tell everybody.

RODRIGUEZ: Well, the problem is the environmental laws, they're not flexible at all. The very judge that pushed this order to cut off the water said that there was no swivel room to make accommodations for human beings. You know, this fish apparently takes high priority. All the water has been held back.

And we're left with nothing but — right where we're at, this used to be an almond orchard. We grew some of the sweetest almonds ever. Now it's firewood. Do you want some? Nobody believes that how I got involved my mother is from here.

HANNITY: These farmers, their farms are now dried up. There's no water; there's no production. People are losing their jobs. How many people are out of work there?

RODRIGUEZ: Well, you know, the system varies but a lot of people here aren't working. That's why we're here. We're here to show America this is our own town hall meeting here, Sean.

This is — you know, we're so wrapped up in this issue we don't have time to worry about health care, because everything around us is dead. Our way of life is dying here.

We really — we tried to have the administration come to see about us. We haven't heard. They sent the secretary of the interior here. He gave us some nice lip service and said, "Oh, we're going to do this and do that." But at the end of the thing, we didn't get no water. Our fields are drying out. Something has to be done.

HANNITY: Now Congressman, first, Paul, you were an Obama supporter. You...

RODRIGUEZ: Yes, absolutely. Like everybody else, we wanted change. We didn't think it would be this kind of change. But you know, he kept his promise, we got change.

HANNITY: All right. But where are you now? I heard you want to call Fresno County an Obama country? Or...

RODRIGUEZ: We want to name — we would like to name it after someone who is responsible for this.

Look, we have signed a letter signed by every mayor in this whole area to President Obama, telling him that we tried to go through the chain of command. We saw the secretary of interior. We saw his assistant. We went to Sacramento. We went over there to Washington, D.C.

We've gone everywhere. Everybody is paying lip service. At the end of the day our trees can't wait. Our trees are going to wait for a law — maybe passing might open. Two gates, one gate, no gates, at the end of the day, nobody is bringing us water.

HANNITY: Congressman, I mean, how is this possible? I mean, this isn't an endangered — this is — go ahead.

REP. DEVIN MUNES, R-CALIF.: It's unbelievable, Sean. This is — we tried on the House floor this summer about five or six different times, and we only got a handful of Democrat votes every time. Weave tried to pass something.

And look, Nancy Pelosi is the speaker of the House. She's from California. We have over 10 percent unemployment in California. We're sitting in trees with trees that are only 8 years old right now that are now sitting here dead, dried out.

There's a half a million acres of farmland — it's bigger than the size of Rhode Island — that's now dry because of these fools.

HANNITY: I've got to — go ahead, Paul. Go ahead.

RODRIGUEZ: You know — you know, the loser here is the American people. Because when we live in the most fertile valley on this planet. Everything you put on the ground here grows. Yet, you're going to eventually — by next spring, you're going to get your vegetables from China. And I understand they make great baby milk formula.

MUNES: And Sean, let me add something on this. This is, you know, in China and India, and Brazil, they're building water infrastructure projects. In California, not only are we not building projects here, we're taking the projects we have, and they're shut off. They're shut off, and they're starving this valley of water.

RODRIGUEZ: We'd like to have the same consideration that they have for the plants that they're building in Iraq. For crying out loud, they are getting — they're getting the water projects.

Here in this valley, look we have no other recourse, but we want to thank you a lot, Sean. Because nobody else has pointed their eye on this problem. To us there's a lot of — we understand that the president has serious problems, you know, with health care and all these other things. But to us this is our livelihood.

MUNES: All you got to do is turn the pumps on.

(CHEERS)

HANNITY: Listen, I want everybody — I don't know if anybody is going to hear me out there, guys. But I want to say this to the crowd. You know what? The people in this area need jobs. They need their farms. They need the water for their farms. And the federal government, where is Barack Obama, where is Nancy Pelosi, where is Harry Reid?

Turn the water on and let the people in central California eat. I can't believe I'm even debating, to be honest, Paul.

RODRIGUEZ: It's ridiculous. You know, we — I have not lost faith yet. Maybe I'm a knucklehead. We have sent the letter. We're still hoping that Mr. Obama will see it in his busy schedule to come down here and visit us.

We believe that — seeing is believing. If he sees the faces on these people. Look, we're not just white or brown. We're everybody here. This is a microcosm of America here. We're farmers. We bring food to your table.

HANNITY: Let me ask you the last question. Are you going to run for office?

RODRIGUEZ: Who, me? The only thing I'm going to run is from the cops.

No, this — this area needs someone with an education. I'm not smart enough to be that. I just want water to my mom's farm, and I'm back to telling jokes.

MUNES: I'm working on him. I'm trying to get him to run, Sean. We'll keep — we're going to work on it.

RODRIGUEZ: You should run, Sean. You're the man.

HANNITY: No, no, no. Listen, I mean this sincerely. I think this is really important. And I hope the president is watching or somebody will bring this to his attention, and somebody has got to turn the water back on. We've got to save these farmers. We've got to save these farms. We've got to do it for the people out there.

RODRIGUEZ: Either that or put us on the endangered species list.

Thank you so much.

HANNITY: All right, guys. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. When...

RODRIGUEZ: Thank you.

HANNITY: Guys, I hope your water gets turned on soon. Thank you, all.

Unbelievable. Whatever happened to the government working for people?

Folks, this is an amazing time in our country's history. And I just can't believe we find ourselves, you know, even having to debate some of these things. But we're going to stay on that story.

— Watch "Hannity" weeknights at 9 p.m. ET!

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