Senate leader: Food safety legislation a priority

Many industry lobbyists and consumer group advocates, as well as congressional staffers, have been skeptical that Congress will find time this year to pass food safety overhaul legislation, but the pieces might be falling into place for relatively rapid movement.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Tuesday he will attempt to pass FDA reauthorization in the next work period, which runs from March 31 to May 23.

Reid's staff clarified he wants to take up a food safety bill during the eight-week stretch -- seemingly a long shot considering a comprehensive bill has not been marked up or even introduced.

Senate staff who take the lead on food safety issues were surprised by the ambitious goal, but Reid's office insists they are going to try, though an aide deferred details to Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.

A Kennedy spokeswoman said the issue is a top priority, but didn't divulge details of a forthcoming bill. HELP ranking member Michael Enzi, R-Wyo., is talking among members of his own party about food safety legislation, but bipartisan negotiations have not taken place, an Enzi spokesman said.

Kennedy's legislation is expected to have some similarities to a measure introduced in the House by Energy and Commerce Chairman Dingell, D-Mich., Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Bart Stupak, D-Mich., and Health Subcommittee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J.

Stupak said Wednesday he anticipates staff providing him with a new draft of the bill over the upcoming recess. He also said he expects the committee to mark up the bill during the next work period.

The House measure charges food and drug companies user fees to raise money for increased FDA inspections of imports, gives FDA mandatory recall authority over food and limits food import shipments to ports near FDA's 13 analysis laboratories nationwide.

The Energy and Commerce Democrats introduced the bill following high-profile import crises ranging from contaminated pet food to fish pumped with antibiotics, both originating in China.

A likely change to the bill might include a reworked fee structure to provide FDA the funds for import inspections after groups, including the European Commission, have raised concerns, Stupak said.

While Kennedy's bill could be similar, some stakeholders believe his legislation also could take a stab at domestic food issues.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., examined the 20 E. coli outbreaks in fresh spinach or lettuce over the last 12 years and released a report Wednesday.

The report found FDA inspects fresh spinach facilities once every 2.4 years, a longer time frame than the once-a-year inspection goal FDA assigns to high risk facilities. It also charges FDA found "objectionable conditions," which include sanitary problems, at 47 percent of spinach inspections, but FDA never reprimanded a company.