fact, Kraft Foods Inc., one of the distributors that purchased the pistachios in bulk, was the entity that reported the salmonella contamination. Although Kraft acted responsibly by reporting its findings to the FDA, it would surprise most Californians to know that the food processing companies are under no obligation to do so. Feuer’s legislation would help prevent a similar tragedy from happening in California again.
"Families must be able to trust that the food they eat is safe,” Feuer said. “This legislation will close significant gaps in laws governing food inspections, testing and reporting of contamination. We owe it to California's consumers, and the food industry that is so critical to our economy, to prevent the next crisis rather than react after people get sick."
“Once again California consumers and retailers are facing another food product recall. That’s unacceptable. Californians need to have confidence in the food we put in our bodies and retailers need to have confidence in the products they stock on their shelves,” said Assembly Speaker Karen Bass. “Assembly member Feuer’s legislation, which ensures food processors have working plans to prevent contamination and requires quick action and notification if contamination does occur, is a common sense approach to help maintain confidence in the safety of our food and avoid expensive recalls. California’s agricultural industry has worked too hard to become a world leader in a range of crops and products. The public’s health and the industry’s reputation are too important to be tainted by any companies who oppose reasonable food safety protections.”
"The FDA has utterly failed to protect our nation's food supply. There have been numerous contamination outbreaks in various foods over many years," said Elisa Obadashian, Director of the West Coast office of Consumer's Union, the non-profit publisher of Consumer Reports. "Assembly member Feuer's legislation will do much to protect Californians from dangerous foodborne outbreaks that sicken and kill consumers. We applaud this effort."
Feuer's legislation would require:
- Food processors to adopt detailed plans to ensure their products are safe;
- Periodic testing of food at California's food processing facilities;
- Food processing establishments to report to state authorities within 24 hours any positive test result for a dangerous contamina
Currently, the food safety system relies to a significant degree on steps taken voluntarily by food processors. When a company’s own tests indicate contaminated products, the company may agree to recall the tainted foods, but there is no state requirement to test the foods processed by the companies.
Feuer had been working on this legislation after salmonella-tainted peanut products prompted the largest food recall in U.S. history and exposed serious deficiencies in federal and state oversight. Nine people have died and over 22,000 are estimated to have become sick from eating peanut products processed at the Georgia plant. Neither state nor federal inspectors required the peanut industry to inform the public, or even the government, of salmonella contamination in its plants. In fact, the company’s testing records show salmonella contamination as far back as June 2007, although product shipments continued even after pathogen-positive test results. Between 2007 and 2008, the plant’s products had tested positive for salmonella twelve times.
Massive food recalls affect more than just product consumers. As a result of the peanut recall, the U.S. peanut industry could lose as much as $1 billion. Similarly, the costs associated with the recalls with peppers, tomatoes and spinach resulted in the loss billions of dollars in those industries. Further, when processing plants close, workers can permanently lose their jobs. Greater regulation and more public testing requirements would help restore consumer confidence in processed food safety.
“We must also protect and support California’s food industry. Businesses working hard to protect public health can suffer major losses when less scrupulous operators don’t do their part,” Feuer added.
Assembly member Feuer was elected to the California State Assembly to represent the 42nd Assembly District, which includes all or part of the Los Angeles communities of Sherman Oaks, Studio City, North Hollywood, Valley Glen, Valley Village, Toluca Lake, Universal City, Griffith Park, Brentwood, Bel Air, Holmby Hills, Beverly Glen, Westwood, Century City, Hollywood, Fairfax, Hancock Park, Los Feliz, as well as the Cities of Beverly Hills and West Hollywood. |
