One disaster after another - our food system is broken

The following is the conclusion of a news release from Congressman Bart Stupak:

"Today's hearing focuses on the role of private industry in protecting our nation's food supply."

"Responsibility for supplying safe and wholesome foods does not rest solely with the government."

"It is always the food processor that has the first opportunity to ensure the safety of their product and prevent these tragic food illnesses."

"We intend to ask food processors what they have learned from food recalls, illnesses, and deaths of last year and what they are doing today to protect the American consumer and ensure their food is safe?"

"Some of the food processors whose food products were recalled last year, will testify today."

"Eating vegetables such as spinach was once every parent's refrain."

"But as we learned last year, eating vegetables and spinach nearly led to the serious injury and death of a defenseless children."

"Unfortunately, the problems associated with the Salinas Valley, known as America's salad bowl, continue to plague us."

"Is America any safer today?"

"Hopefully, the CEO of Dole, the largest distributor of the E. coli spinach that sickened and killed people last year, will tell us what he is doing to stop these problems."

"ConAgra, a firm that blamed the problems relating to its Peter Pan peanut butter on a leaky roof in testimony before us last April, is also back to explain why the same strain of Salmonella got into their peanut butter jars six months after the leak was fixed."

"ConAgra still has to explain to the American people how Salmonella infected its Banquet brand turkey pot pies."

"We also need to understand from ConAgra and their supplier, Butterball, how fully cooked turkey could sicken people who ate their pot pies."

"We also planned to ask Steve Mendell, the CEO of Hallmark/Westland Co., to explain how he could produce and ship over 143 million pounds of raw and frozen beef products that the USDA determined was 'unfit for human consumption.'"

"Hallmark/Westland's February 17 recall is the largest meat recall in the history of the United States."

"Fifty-five million pounds of this meat was shipped to feed children in federally sponsored school lunch programs."

"How could children and seniors be fed beef from cattle that could not be legally slaughtered?"

"USDA inspectors were in the plant. Where were they?"

"Why didn't federal inspectors catch the illegal slaughter of downer cows before millions of children were put at risk of Mad Cow Disease and other health problems from eating meat from cows that were too sick to even stand up."

"We will also hear from the CEOs of Bumble Bee and New Era about the deadly botulism bacteria that were found in their food."

"We need to know how botulism, a very deadly but rarely found bacteria, survived the sterilization process required for low acid canned foods, in the Bumble Bee plant in Georgia and the New Era facility in Michigan."

"I believe this is the first time in over 30 years that botulism has been discovered in our food."

"If we can no longer trust our food companies to provide us with food that is supposed to be pasteurized, then America's food safety has sunk to a new low."

"How many other foods that are supposed to be sterilized before being sent to our grocery stores but are not being pasteurized before being sold to American consumers?"

"Today, we will also have more testimony of banned antibiotics found in imported seafood that FDA is unable to keep off our tables."

"We also have with us today a witness from a private laboratory that tests imported food for safety."

"We expect to learn how easily companies can manipulate the current inspection system to allow contaminated imported food into our food supply."

"Fifteen years ago, America's trust in its food supply was shattered when four children died and more than 700 people became sick after eating Jack-in-the-Box hamburgers."

"USDA responded to this tragedy in 1995 with creation of industry-supported hazard analysis critical control point or HACCP system."

"HACCP was promoted as a science-based strategy for protecting public health."

"Although the scientific principles of HACCP remain sound, many experts contend that it actually has decreased federal oversight because of industry reliance on self-inspection under HACCP."

"Today our food safety system is broken."

"The overarching question for the corporate CEOs testifying today is simply how do we fix our critical food safety net?"

"Chairman Dingell, myself, and a number of our colleagues are determined to restore confidence in our food safety system."

"We need your support."

"I hope today is a start to correct the problems that created the litany of recalls and illnesses of food recalls last year."

"Members of this committee look forward to working with you in this effort."

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