In refusing to consider the National Uniformity for Food Act
(S. 3128) before the end of the 109th Congress, the Senate rejected
an attempt to weaken America’s
food safety system. The bill, supported
by powerful food manufacturers, would have implemented sweeping changes to America’s food
safety system by preempting hundreds of state and local food safety
protections.
Recent outbreaks of E.
coli demonstrate the need for more vigilance over the safety of our food
supply, not less. The National
Uniformity for Food Act would have turned 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.
In March 2006, the House approved its version of the
National Uniformity for Food Act. Had the Senate also agreed to the bill, more
than 200 food safety laws across the country would have been eliminated without
the establishment of any new protections to fill the void.
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.
Instead of promoting this important state-federal
partnership, the National Uniformity for Food Act would have relegated food
safety decisions in all 50 states to an increasingly under-funded, overburdened
and unresponsive federal agency. In
addition, states and localities would have been prevented from issuing food
warnings and notifications to consumers.
U.S. PIRG, joined by 39 state Attorneys General, the
National Association of State Departments of Agriculture and the Association of
Food and Drug Officials, opposed the legislation. Fortunately for American consumers, the
Senate effectively discarded the attack on food safety by refusing to vote on
the legislation before the end of the 109th Congress. U.S. PIRG stands prepared to oppose any
resurgence of this attack on state and local food safety protections.
