April 14, 2003 - Trio of House Democrats form congressional food-safety caucus

by Dan Murphy, Meat Marketing & Technology

A newly formed congressional caucus will address such issues as food-borne illness, the emerging challenges in food safety, globalization and bioterrorism, according to the three House members who announced its formation last week.

Created by Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Tom Latham (R-Iowa), the bipartisan Congressional Food Safety Caucus will hold regular educational briefings on topics such as the contamination of foods, protecting our food supply from bioterrorism, bio-engineered foods, and risk-based management of food safety.

"My hope for this caucus is that we take the action needed to bring common sense, uniformity and consistency to food-safety inspections so that we can better protect consumers and our nation's agricultural economy," Latham said. "I look forward to working with my colleagues on a bipartisan basis to advance proposals that guarantee America's consumers the safest possible food products for their families."

The goals of the new caucus are to:

Educate the public and Congress on current and emerging food safety issues

Begin a productive dialogue about the ability of the current system to secure our food supply

Coordinate and facilitate communication between members of Congress, consumers, food safety agencies and the private sector

Enhance the various legislative efforts toward improving the safety of the food supply.

"Food safety is not an issue of the past, and it is not a partisan issue," said DeLauro. "It is about protecting families. We need to do all we can to reduce the incidence of food-borne illness, and we need to protect our food supply from a bioterrorist attack."

Latham has previously co-sponsored legislation with DeLauro to consolidate federal food safety responsibilities under a single agency. The bill, known as the Safe Food Act, is expected to be re-introduced on the floor of the House later this session, according to Lathan's office staff.

This article reprinted with permission from Meat Marketing & Technology.

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