Schakowsky Calls For Increased Food Safety

SCHAKOWSKY CALLS FOR INCREASED FOOD SAFETY

WASHINGTON, DC–U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) delivered the following statement in front of the House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations during a hearing on the safety and security of our nation's food supply.

"Thank you, Chairman Stupak for holding today's hearing on food safety. Not only is this a serious public health issue, but it is also a matter of national security to which we must give our utmost attention.

Every year, 76 million Americans suffer from food-borne illnesses. Of those individuals, approximately 325,000 will be hospitalized and more than 5,000 will die. However, because of lax inspections and disjointed oversight, because of corporate skullduggery, and because we are relying more and more on imports of ingredients that are not inspected, we could soon see these numbers skyrocket.

In order to get a handle on this problem, we must follow the recommendation of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and consolidate federal food safety programs. In February of this year, the GAO deemed federal oversight of food safety as "high risk" to the economy and public health and safety. I support legislation such as the Safe Food Act, sponsored by Rep. DeLauro, which would consolidate all food safety agencies and establish the Food Safety Administration. The FSA would be responsible for the creation, administration and enforcement of our food safety laws which is currently lacking. When the news of the E. Coli contamination of spinach broke last year, Reps. DeLauro, DeGette, and I called on Chairman Barton to hold a hearing on this bill which has been referred to our committee. I am very glad that under your leadership, Chairman Stupak, we are discussing the issue today.

We also cannot just wait for the passage of legislation, but we must also start holding food — including pet food — conglomerates accountable now. For instance, ConAgra's corporate policy tries to keep the lid on what they are up to. Employees are told to never volunteer information and never give more information than necessary. They are even told to hide product codes from the on-the-ground inspectors. This is vital information that could alert the FDA — and consumers — to whether a questionable facility is being used to process food, or whether a questionable supplier is providing ingredients. Keeping information from the inspectors is purely meant to keep us in the dark about what they are doing to the food that makes it to our kitchen tables.

I wish I could say I am amazed at the incidents of corporate shenanigans that has been noted in the press and will be revealed at this hearing today. However, I have seen it all before. When I was a young mother, some thirty years ago, I fought another effort by food producers from keeping us in the dark about the freshness of foods. Some of your may recall going to the grocery store and not being able to tell whether the food you were buying was fresh or not. I, along with some other young mothers, organized and were able to get the freshness dates that we now see everyday on food.

Additionally, I think we also need to look further into the lack of inspection of ingredients for food products that are being imported into the U.S. from countries like China. Because I am short on time, I would like to submit for the record the AP article, "U.S. Food Safety Strained by Imports.... This article details how food ingredients are not a priority for FDS inspections — even as the import of ingredients has increased by 73% in the last five years. If someone wanted to attack the United States through its food supply, we have a frighteningly easy way for them to do so.

It is time that we act to ensure that our food supply is safe. Thank you....