A senator and representative are calling for the creation of a single agency to deal with food safety in America.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-CT, and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-IL, introduced the Federal Food Administration Act in their respective chambers. The legislation would create the Federal Food Administration, a single agency responsible for ensuring food safety and promoting good nutrition.
There are currently more than a dozen agencies with food safety responsibilities, with the lion’s share of responsibility going to the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA is responsible for overseeing 80 percent of the country’s food supply, while almost all other food, especially meat and poultry, falls under the responsibility of the USDA. Other agencies concerned with food safety include the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Homeland Security, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the Food and Nutrition Service, the Department of Commerce, the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of the Treasury , the Department of Transportation, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and many more. The Court of Audit reports that 16 entities are involved in food safety.
Food safety advocates such as STOP Foodborne Illness and Consumer Reports, along with a number of U.S. Representatives and Senators, have been calling for consolidation of food safety efforts for years, but neither Congress nor the Department of Health and Human Services have responded . Although it is charged with overseeing more than 80 percent of the nation’s food supply, the Food and Drug Administration’s budget is largely spent on the drug side of the agency.
“I have long said that food safety is a second-class citizen at the Food and Drug Administration,” said DeLauro, a ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee.
“I believe we need one food safety agency that focuses solely on keeping the food we eat safe. Creating a single food safety agency could prevent avoidable product contamination and subsequent recalls that disrupt the supply chain, contribute to rising prices and, in many cases, result in consumer illness and death. The infant formula shortage in 2022 made this abundantly clear.”
Durbin has similar reasons for introducing the legislation in the Senate. He said the goal of the legislation is to protect food on dining tables across the country.
“In recent years, the FDA has been plagued by one failure after another — from the failure to protect babies from bacterial infections in their infant formula, to the failure to protect children from lead-contaminated applesauce pouches,” Durbin said. “The sad reality is that the FDA has failed to use its authority to protect Americans from preventable illness and death. That’s why Congressman DeLauro and I are introducing legislation to transfer all of the FDA’s food responsibilities to a new agency.”
The proposed legislation would be a positive step in reorganizing the nation’s human food program to improve operations and create accountability, said Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at Consumer Reports.
“Ultimately, we need one independent agency focused solely on preventing foodborne illness and advancing nutrition goals to effectively carry out its mission,” Ronholm said. Consumer Reports strongly supports this bill and applauds Senator Durbin and Representative DeLauro for their tireless efforts in this area.”
Although the FDA regulates the vast majority of the U.S. food supply with its increased powers, including the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011, the FDA has failed to make significant strides in reducing the number of foodborne illnesses and deaths in the USA statement from Delauro and Durbin.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that approximately one in six Americans – or 48 million people – become ill from a foodborne illness each year. According to the CDC, 128,000 people in the United States are hospitalized and 3,000 die from foodborne illness every year.
The Federal Food Administration Act would remove food regulation from the Food and Drug Administration and establish a Federal Food Administration under the Department of Health and Human Services by integrating the existing food programs within the FDA into this separate agency: the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM), Office of Food Policy and Response (OFPR) and the Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA). This agency would be headed by a Senate-confirmed expert.
While the FDA has undertaken a reorganization of the Human Foods Program to better protect people from foodborne illness, a unified structure under HHS with a Senate-confirmed commissioner will strengthen oversight of the food supply, protect the health and well-being of Americans improve, and increase the ability of companies to operate effectively, according to the lawmaker’s statement.
Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) joins Durbin and DeLauro as the original co-sponsor of this legislation.
You can find the invoice text here.
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