Statement of U.S. PIRG Toxics and Environmental Health Advocate Alex Fidis
Legislation
considered in the Senate Health, Employment, Labor and Pension
Committee today would abolish more than 150 state and local food safety
and notification requirements.
The
National Uniformity for Food Act (S. 3128) would implement sweeping
changes to America’s food safety net by severely restricting the role
of state and local governments in ensuring food quality and providing
information to consumers.
Recent
food borne public health threats such as mad cow disease, avian bird
flu, and E coli outbreaks demonstrate the need for more vigilance over
the safety of our food supply, not less. Unfortunately, the National
Uniformity for Food Act turns back the clock on decades of progress to
improve food quality and protect public health by cutting state and
local governments out of the food safety equation.
Protecting
the safety of the food supply in the United States is a responsibility
currently shared by local, state and federal partners. Federal safety
standards provide some basic health protections but states and
municipalities, which are often more nimble and capable of responding
quickly to localized public health concerns, fill important gaps left
open by federal standards. In lieu of a state-federal partnership, this
legislation would relegate food safety decisions in all 50 states to an
increasingly under-funded, overburdened and unresponsive federal agency.
S.
3128 not only invalidates numerous state food safety requirements, but
also fails to replace any of these lost protections. Such protections
include state laws that regulate the sale of raw un-pasteurized milk
and dairy products, and laws that ensure the food served in restaurants
is safe to eat. Both of these are examples of protections that all 50
states have established in the absence of federal action.
In
addition, states and localities would be prevented from issuing food
warnings and notifications to consumers. For example, the bill would
abolish a Maine law that requires disclosure of post-harvest spraying
of produce with pesticides, and California’s Proposition 65 which
requires warning labels on food products that contain toxic chemicals
that cause cancer, birth defects and reproductive defects.
U.S.
PIRG is joined in our opposition to preempting state and local food
safety laws by 39 state Attorneys General, the National Association of
State Departments of Agriculture and the Association of Food and Drug
Officials.
