RE: [Homesteadingfamily] Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510)

That is the EXACT same email I posted several months ago from the Mark
Warner in VA!! WORD FOR WORD!!

Jeanne

<http://community.webshots.com/user/atasetofcreole>
http://community.webshots.com/user/atasetofcreole

<http://atasteofcreole.wordpress.com/> http://atasteofcreole.wordpress.com/

Laws are made for men of ordinary understanding and should, therefore, be
construed by the ordinary rules of common sense."- Thomas Jefferson

From: Homesteadingfamily@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:Homesteadingfamily@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of hlrinc
Sent: Friday, February 04, 2011 11:15 AM
To: Homesteadingfamily@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Homesteadingfamily] Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510)

Thought I would share the following letter from Jay Rockefeller to me:

Thank you for contacting me previously to express your concerns about food
safety legislation pending before Congress. I always enjoy hearing from a
fellow West Virginian, and I welcome this opportunity to provide you with an
update.

Americans should be able to trust that the food they eat and serve their
families is safe. Unfortunately, more than 76 million people contract food
borne illnesses each year, resulting in the hospitalization of more than
300,000 people and the death of nearly 5,000 people. According to a study
conducted by the Produce Safety Project at Georgetown University, the annual
health care expenses associated with treating food borne illnesses in West
Virginia are more than $44 million a year, with individual treatment costing
an average of $1,816 annually. Our food regulatory system was designed over
100 years ago for a food market in which many products were domestically
grown and manufactured. Today, an increasing portion of our food is mass
produced and imported from overseas, leading to many regulatory challenges.

The Senate passed a modified version of the Food Safety Modernization Act
(S. 510) on November 30, 2010. I supported this legislation, which was
ultimately signed into law by the President on January 4, 2011. This new law
includes important new protections for consumers. First, it increases the
Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) enforcement and detection capacity. It
requires facilities that manufacture, process, pack, or hold food to have in
place risk-based preventative control plans to address identified hazards
and adulteration. Second, the new law allows the Secretary of the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to issue a mandatory recall
for food products that could cause serious adverse health consequences to
consumers. Specifically, the new law gives the FDA, which is a division of
HHS, the authority to order a mandatory recall of a good product if the food
will cause serious health consequences or death and a company has failed to
recall the product upon the FDA's request. Third, the new law requires
greater inspection of foreign food facilities. Importers are now required to
verify the safety of foreign suppliers in imported food. The FDA can now
require certification for high-risk foods and deny entry to a food that
lacks certification.

I have heard from many of West Virginia's small farmers and independent food
growers who are concerned about how this new law will impact their business
operations. I am pleased to inform you that the final bill signed into law
also contains measures aimed at protecting small, organic, and local farms.
The new law incorporates provisions of an amendment offered by Senator
Tester of Montana that exempts roadside stands, farmer's markets, and
certain small food facilities from some of the requirements in the Act if
the annual average monetary value of food sold by the facility during the
previous three-year period was less than $500,000 and sold directly to
consumers within 275 miles of the originating facility. The Tester provision
thereby exempts small farms, roadside stands, and restaurants from increased
regulation.

Specifically, the new law would not interfere with organic farming practices
and continues the exception for farms and restaurants under the current
definition of farm in the 2002 Bioterrorism Act. The new law does not
subject small entities that produce food for their personal consumption or
market the majority of their food directly to consumers or restaurants to
registration or new record-keeping requirements. This exemption applies to
goods sold through farmers' markets, bake sales, public events and
organizational fundraisers. Additionally, the law does not alter the
requirements of organic food under the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990
and provides training for facilities to come into compliance with new safety
requirements. For the purpose of food traceability, the new law also exempts
farms and small businesses that are not food facilities from having to
create new records and allows the FDA to limit produce safety standards for
small and very small entities, such as home gardens, that produce or harvest
food which poses little or no serious risk to human health. The FDA would be
permitted to revoke exemptions for facilities linked to the outbreak of
contaminated foods.

I am very pleased that this fundamentally important legislation was signed
into law by the President. Not only will the Food Safety Modernization Act
improve food safety protections for consumers, but it will do so in a way
that does not harm small farmers or organic growers. As always, I wish you
the best.

With Warm Regards,

Jay Rockefeller

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