Pew Statement on House Passage of Food Safety Legislation

WASHINGTON, July 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Statement of Erik D. Olson,
Director of Food and Consumer Product Safety, The Pew Charitable Trusts:

"We applaud the House of Representatives' bipartisan vote today to modernize
and strengthen the nation's food safety system. This historic action takes a
major step toward ensuring Americans can have increased confidence in the
safety of their food.

"Foodborne disease kills one American every two hours, every day of the year,
and the vast majority of these deaths are preventable. The Food and Drug
Administration, which is responsible for the safety of over 80 percent of the
foods we eat, has been hamstrung in its effort to better ensure the safety of
the food supply by an outdated law and inadequate resources.

"Today's bill will help give the government stronger tools and more resources
to safeguard our food supply. Instead of inspecting food plants every 10
years, on average, this legislation will require far more frequent
inspections. It will help guarantee stronger rules regarding the safety of
imported foods and will also ensure that companies and the FDA can trace the
source of food contamination and recall tainted food, so health authorities
can quickly and efficiently respond to outbreaks.

"We thank the leaders of this effort including Reps. Henry Waxman, John
Dingell, Frank Pallone and Rosa DeLauro for their tireless efforts on this
issue and we also want to thank Reps. Joe Barton and Nathan Deal for working
in good faith with their Energy and Commerce Committee colleagues to advance
this legislation.

"We urge the Senate to immediately take up food safety legislation that is at
least as strong as the House bill."

SOURCE Pew Charitable Trusts

Lisa Cutler of Pew Charitable Trusts, +1-202-552-2169, lcutler@pewtrusts.org