NEWS RELEASE

Committee on Energy and Commerce
Rep. John D. Dingell, Chairman

Dingell, Stupak Comment on Beef Recall

Washington, D.C. – Reps. John D. Dingell (D-MI), the Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Bart Stupak (D-MI), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, today released the following statement in response to Nebraska Beef Ltd.’s recall of 5.3 million pounds of ground beef due to E. coli contamination. Twenty-one cases of E. coli, including 12 hospitalizations, have been linked to the contaminated beef in Michigan alone. A total of 41 cases and 22 hospitalizations have been reported nationwide.

“We don’t have to see additional outbreaks of food contamination to conclude that our national food safety system has consistently failed to protect our food supply,” said Dingell. “Until USDA and FDA have the leadership and resources necessary to keep bad food out of our grocery stores and off dining room tables, Americans will continue to be concerned that the food they eat may not always be safe.”

“How many more Americans have to be sickened, hospitalized or worse before FDA and USDA realize our nation’s food safety system is broken and in desperate need of repair?” Stupak said. “Even as the FDA still can’t tell us why nearly 1,000 Americans have been sickened by salmonella, USDA and Nebraska Beef have allowed beef contaminated with E. coli to enter the food supply. Especially troubling is the news that Nebraska Beef has known since early June that its product might be contaminated. FDA and USDA have toyed with voluntary regulations that rely on the responsibility of the food industry and, quite frankly, it’s not working. Strong legislation is needed to protect Americans from these contaminations.”

The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations has held eight hearings since January 2007 as part of an ongoing investigation into the safety of the nation’s food supply. The hearings have explored improvements needed at Food and Drug Administration (FDA), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and within the food industry to improve food safety. The Committee will hold another hearing later this month looking into the FDA’s failure to identify the source of the latest salmonella outbreak from fresh produce.

Dingell and Stupak, along with Health Subcommittee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ), are working on legislation, The Food and Drug Administration Globalization Act of 2008, that would provide the financial resources and regulatory tools needed to improve food safety.

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