U.S. food supply called vulnerable -Denver Post

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Tuesday, April 23, 2002 9:17 AM

U.S. food supply called vulnerable -Denver Post

 

 

U.S. food supply called vulnerable

Anti-terror legislation won't protect it, critics say

By Anne C. Mulkern

Denver Post Washington Bureau

Monday, April 22, 2002

- http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E33%257E564037,00.html -

 

 

WASHINGTON - Forget those fears about anthrax-laden crop dusters and gas-filled

subways. The real source of a biological terrorist attack could be something

much closer: the dinner plate.

 

Six months after terrorists flew jets into buildings and mailed anthrax-stained

letters, consumer groups and even the nation's top health official say the

nation's food supply remains vulnerable to terrorism.

 

Congress next month is expected to hand President Bush legislation designed to

prevent and respond to biological attacks. But the food industry and consumer

groups say it would do little to protect food from terrorists. And U.S. Health

and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said he's more worried about food

tampering than attacks from viruses.

 

" If someone decided that they wanted to sprinkle a virus (on food supplies), we

would have a lot of dead bodies before the FDA could take action, " said Carol

Tucker Foreman, director of Consumer Federation of America's Food Policy

Institute and a former U.S. Department of Agriculture official.

 

Less than 1 percent of the food imported into the U.S. undergoes any type of

inspection, leaving what many call an open door for terrorists. A patchwork of

federal agencies oversees food safety. And the government lacks the power to

order national food recalls.

 

The House and Senate passed biological terrorism legislation last December, two

months after it was introduced. By Washington, D.C., standards, it happened with

lightning speed.

 

A conference committee now is dealing with differences in the two bills.

Congressional leaders say they want to get it to Bush to sign by Memorial Day.

Lawmakers hail it as a major step toward protecting food.

 

" This bill, when signed into law by President Bush, will improve our ability to

respond effectively and quickly to bioterrorist threats and other public health

emergencies, " bill sponsor Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La., said when the House passed

the legislation.

 

The final package is likely to provide millions to fund more inspectors, require

federal registration of all food processors and shippers, and give the Food and

Drug Administration new powers to inspect records and to seize food thought to

be problematic.

 

The bill also has provisions to better prepare for disease threats, for

stockpiling drugs and vaccines, and for protecting water supplies. But critics

of the legislation say it fails to protect imported food, one of the sources

terrorists could access.

 

" It's all smoke and mirrors, " Foreman said. " It gives the FDA no preventive

powers. "

 

The funding in the biological terrorism legislation would allow the FDA to add

700 inspectors. That would more than double inspections of imported foods. But

even that would only increase the portion of imports inspected to about 4

percent. " That's not enough, " said Bruce Silverglade, director of legal affairs

for the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

 

Because the FDA must go through state agencies to order recalls, it could take

time to get contaminated food off the shelves, consumer groups said.

 

It's a problem regulators knew about well before Sept. 11.

 

A series of reports in 1996 and 1998 by the General Accounting Office, the

investigative arm of the government, said the nation's imported food supplies

needed to be safer. It recommended giving the FDA power to reject imports from

countries that fail to meet the U.S.' food processing standards.

 

" Given the ineffectiveness of port-of-entry inspections, FDA cannot

realistically ensure that unsafe foods are kept out of U.S. commerce, the 1998

report said. " Even if FDA could inspect more shipments, (it) would still provide

little assurance that imported foods are picked, processed and packed under

sanitary conditions. "

 

The GAO reports also called for a consolidation of the numerous federal agencies

that oversee food safety, saying the fragmented approach led to slow responses.

 

Neither recommendation was followed. Neither is addressed by the new biological

terrorism legislation. And under the World Trade Organization agreements, the

U.S. now cannot treat imported foods any less favorably than it treats domestic

products.

 

The FDA would not comment on the issue. A report from the Health and Human

Services Department released last week said food is safer than ever and that

food-borne illnesses have decreased 23 percent since 1996. But yearly deaths

still top 5,000.

 

" If we're not protecting against the mundane, how are we going to protect

against the intentional? " Foreman said.

 

The food industry agrees that the new legislation won't thwart terrorists. Food

processors say the proposed law would impose arduous regulations by requiring

the registration of every company that processes, packages, holds or ships food.

 

Companies that import food must give prior notice of plans to ship food.

 

Because most American food makers import part of their ingredients, it will

affect U.S. companies, Foreman said.

 

" There is a consumer impact, " said Kristin Pearson, director of federal

legislative affairs for the National Food Processors Association.

 

" It makes it more difficult, more expensive and more cumbersome to import

foods. "

 

The FDA says the registration requirement will allow it to trace the source and

distribution of food, which let it respond faster to health hazards.

 

But Pearson said the rules are unlikely to stop terrorists, who aren't going to

register or give prior notice, she said.

 

" I don't think it solves the problem at all, " she said.

 

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E33%257E564037,00.html

 

 

 

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