Schauer, Upton, Stabenow & Levin Introduce bills to Improve Food Safety, Protect Consumers

Press Release

Schauer, Upton, Stabenow & Levin Introduce bills to Improve Food Safety, Protect Consumers

Today Michigan Reps. Mark Schauer (D-Battle Creek) and Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph), along with Sens. Stabenow (D-MI) and Levin (D-MI), introduced legislation that will improve food safety inspections and protect consumers from health hazards that cost lives.

"As we have seen with the recent peanut butter and cheese recalls, inadequate food safety inspections can put lives at risk and have a crippling effect on our food producers," said Schauer. "By providing inspectors with the training they need, we can save lives and avoid future recalls that hurt local businesses."

Currently, state employees perform over half of all Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspections at domestic food processing plants, and many state and local food inspectors lack adequate training to do their jobs. This legislation would establish and fund the national Food Protection Training Institute to train 1,000 state and local inspectors this year, increasing to 3,000 annually by 2013.

"Having a state-of-the-art Food Protection Training Institute in our own back yard will create hundreds of jobs and provide a much needed boost to our local economy," said Upton. "Unfortunately, all it takes is one link to fail in the food safety chain for a crisis to arise - it is imperative that we have properly trained food inspectors on the frontlines as we seek to ensure the safety of the American public."

Recent recalls of peanut butter, pistachios, alfalfa, and frozen meat and poultry pasta products underscore the urgent need to improve food safety inspections and keep consumers safe. Sen. Stabenow has introduced similar legislation in the U.S. Senate.

"The health and safety of every consumer is always a top priority," said Stabenow. "Right now, however, the lives of Michigan families have been put at serious risk by inadequate food safety inspections. A national Food Protection Training Institute will help improve food safety measures and create good-paying jobs at the same time."

Sen. Carl Levin has signed on as a co-sponsor of the Senate bill.

"The Food and Drug Administration plays an important role in making sure that the goods that Americans bring home from the grocery are prepared properly and safe to put on the dinner table," said Levin. "This legislation will help improve FDA inspections to ensure that we achieve that standard while also providing a boost to Michigan's economy."

A June 2000 report issued by the Office of Inspector General recommended that the FDA take steps to promote equivalency among federal and state food safety standards, inspection programs, and enforcement practices.

Working in conjunction with the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO), the Institute will offer courses for in-person and on-line training that will ensure that state and local food inspectors are fully equipped with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to competently and adequately assure the safety of the nation's food supply.

Given the city's strong workforce and existing food production and research facilities, the Food Protection Training Institute would be located in Battle Creek. This legislation would fund the costs of curriculum development and would enable the center to train inspectors from all 50 states.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation, one of the world's largest private foundations, has committed $5 million in start-up funds for the Institute to develop the initial core curriculum and enroll its first class this year.

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