From the op ed:
The Food and Drug Administration discovered that PCA's Blakely, Ga., plant knowingly shipped salmonella-tainted product 12 times in 2007 and 2008. There were suspicions that the parent company, based in Lynchburg, Va., was lab shopping for negative salmonella test results. The Justice Department began a criminal investigation. Then came the hearings of the House Energy and Commerce investigations subcommittee, which released damning e-mails. In one message, Mr. Parnell complained to the plant manager that the delay in getting a favorable test result "is costing us huge $$$$$." In another note, that plant manager reported that a previous finding of salmonella came back negative from another lab. To which Mr. Parnell replied, "Okay, let's turn them loose then."
The Peanut Corporation of America was not required to report its numerous positive salmonella results to state or federal authorities. Companies need to be required to test for the hazards that are most likely to occur in their products, and standards for what constitutes a hazard must be devised.
The op ed finishes by voicing support for three bills:
- Rep. Rosa DeLauro's bill, The Food Safety Modernization Act, which establishes a Food Safety Agency separate from the FDA and requires inspections of processing plants at least annually
- Rep. John Dingell's bill, an amendment to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, mandating the use of a certified lab and requiring all lab results go to the FDA
- Rep. Diana DeGette's bills, the Tracing and Recalling Agricultural Contamination Everywhere Act of 2009 (TRACE Act) and the Safe And Fair Enforcement and Recall for Meat, Poultry, and Food Act of 2009 (SAFER Meat, Poultry, and Food Act), calling for mandatory recalls of contaminated food and greater traceability of food
I get nervous any time anyone talks about traceability because I worry that a system put into place will be (like the National Animal ID System) overly burdensome on small producers without actually increasing food safety. Still - the point of this diary is to ask - even though these bills look (mostly) good, what about the laws we already have? Why weren't they followed? Why weren't they enforced?
UPDATE: Apparently H.R.814 (the TRACE Act) is bad news for opponents of the National Animal ID System. It appears that it could result in requiring producers to register for NAIS or else lose access to USDA-inspected slaughterhouses - which for many would mean going out of business.
The FDA visited PCA's Georgia plant in 2001 and found no serious violations. The FDA inspects plants about once a decade. The Georgia Dept of Ag inspected more recently and they found MANY violations - but took no action. PCA's plants were apparently disgusting as early as the 1980's, before they even bought the Georgia plant. The Georgia Dept of Ag probably found something very similar to what the FDA found when it inspected the plant after it was linked to the salmonella outbreak. Yet nothing happened.
This tells me that either a) our enforcement mechanisms are totally broken, b) our FDA is totally understaffed and underfunded and incapable of doing its job or c) all of the above. So new laws might be a good idea - but can we accompany them with some FDA funding so they are able to carry out the laws we pass? |
