Majority of Americans Support Food Safety Reform, Poll Finds

Eighty-nine percent of Americans support more aggressive food safety regulation, according to a poll commissioned by The Pew Charitable Trusts. The findings could place added pressure on Congress as it considers whether to make food safety reform a top legislative priority in 2009.

According to an outline of the poll’s key findings, 89 percent of voters support broad reform of the food safety net, “including 61% who strongly support this.”

The poll also probed respondents for their views on specific policy ideas. At least 90 percent voiced support for better systems for tracking food through the supply chain, more frequent government inspections of food facilities, and stronger regulation of imported food.

Americans would continue to support increased regulation and inspections even if it meant higher grocery bills, according to the Pew poll. "72% say it would be worth it to pay between 3% and 5% more in grocery costs to have these new safety measures—this is true among lower-income (77% worth it), middle-income (74%), and higher-income voters (69%)."

Hart Research Associates and Public Opinion Strategies conducted the poll. The pollsters surveyed 1,005 registered voters between June 29 and July 3. The results carry a 3.1 percent margin of error.

The poll results lend weight to arguments in favor of increased regulation of the food industry. Advocates have been increasingly calling for more protective food safety standards and more diligent enforcement, citing high-profile recalls and contamination scares that have made headlines over the past few years.

In June, for example, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned consumers about a batch of Nestlé refrigerated cookie dough which had become contaminated with E. coli bacteria. Nestlé recalled all packages of the cookie dough, but not before dozens had been sickened.

The cookie dough was manufactured in a Danville, VA, plant. However, FDA investigators found no traces of E. coli at the plant, leaving investigators bewildered.

The uncertainty surrounding the cookie dough investigation is not uncommon. In the summer of 2008, the FDA spent months trying to figure out the cause of a salmonella outbreak that sickened more than 1,000 people. Initially, FDA focused on tomatoes but later identified Mexican-grown jalapeño peppers as the culprits.

To help public officials during future investigations, FDA has launched a Reportable Food Registry where industry and local officials can report food safety problems "when there is reasonable probability that an article of food will cause serious adverse health consequences."

Federal, state, and local officials hope the registry will allow investigators to more quickly identify the scope of foodborne illness outbreaks. By linking reports from a variety of sources, the registry could reveal geographic or illness patterns caused by the same or similar foods. "Working with the food industry, we can swiftly remove contaminated products from commerce and keep them out of consumers' hands," said Michael R. Taylor, a senior advisor at the FDA.

Congress mandated the creation of the registry in the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007. Congress gave FDA one year to create the registry. FDA missed the deadline, which passed in September 2008.

Congress is considering further legislative reforms to the food safety system. On July 20, the House passed the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 (H.R. 2749) by a vote of 283-142.

The bill would give FDA the authority to pull risky products from store shelves. Currently, FDA cannot mandate a recall. Instead, the agency works with industry to orchestrate voluntary recalls. The bill would also require more frequent inspections of food facilities. To pay for the inspections, the bill would allow FDA to charge food facilities an annual $500 registration fee.

In the Pew poll, 66 percent of respondents said they supported the registration fee program.

In the Senate, reform efforts have lagged. Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) introduced a bill in March with bipartisan support, but no hearings have been held. Durbin's bill is similar to the House version, but it does not include the registration fee provision.

Debate over other congressional priorities further clouds the forecast for successful passage of any reform package in 2009. Comprehensive food safety reform is likely to take a back seat to health care and finalizing FY 2010 appropriations.

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