Food Safety Issues in the 109th Congress

Publication Date: June 2005

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

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Foodborne illness is a serious public health problem. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that each year in the United States, 76 million people get sick, 325,000 are hospitalized, and 5,000 die from food-related illnesses. There are many who maintain that these estimates understate the problem because many people do not seek medical help for foodborne illness and so those episodes of illness are not included in official counts. Most consumers look to the government to regulate and protect the food supply, and industry is interested in producing foods that are safe at a reasonable price. Consequently, Congress has an interest in oversight and legislation in this area.

Several federal agencies, along with cooperating agencies in the states, are responsible for assuring the safety, wholesomeness, and proper labeling of all foods. The responsibilities under the current federal system are divided among two departments and one independent agency. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulates meat, poultry, and certain egg products while the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), sets and enforces standards for safety of all other domestic and imported foods. The FDA is also responsible for ensuring that all animal drugs and feeds are safe, labeled properly, and produce no human health hazard when used in food-producing animals. The CDC, also part of DHHS, tracks foodborne illness outbreaks. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets legal limits (tolerances) on the amounts of pesticide residues allowed in or on food.

Production of food is often a multistage process involving many different vendors and producers. Congress maintains close oversight over federal food safety activities, which consist of inspecting, testing, research, and monitoring the food supply. In response to limited federal funding, FDA and USDA adopted an approach to food safety known as the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system. It requires food companies to identify where hazards could enter food during its preparation for market and to take steps to lower the risk of contamination.

Fears of terrorist attacks spawned legislation that has been assisting the federal government in protecting the food supply. The Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-188) requires FDA to register food processors, inspect their records, and detain adulterated food. It also requires that FDA issue regulations to ensure the safety of imported foods. In addition, the Act authorizes appropriations for USDA, to be used for enhanced border inspection of food imports of plant and animal origin, lab biosecurity upgrades, and increased research.

Food safety issues implicate food security, "mad cow" threats to the food supply, new enforcement authorities for FDA and USDA, and methylmercury in fish. Some Members of Congress continue to be interested in the regulation of bioengineered foods, the growing public health problem of antimicrobial resistance, the safety of fresh produce, egg safety, and reorganizing the federal food safety structure. This report will be updated regularly.