I like the list of people present at the meetings. Just the sort of people you want determining your food safety policies.U.S. food industry bitten by its lobbying success
Last Updated: Friday, July 25, 2008 | 8:38 AM ET The Associated Press
One of the worst outbreaks of food-borne illness in the U.S. is teaching the food industry the truth of the adage, "Be careful what you wish for because you might get it."
The industry pressured the Bush administration years ago to limit the paperwork companies would have to keep to help U.S. health investigators quickly trace produce that sickens consumers, according to interviews and government reports reviewed by the Associated Press.
The White House also killed a plan to require the industry to maintain electronic tracking records that could be reviewed easily during a crisis to search for an outbreak's source. Companies complained the proposals were too burdensome and costly, and warned they could disrupt the availability of consumers' favorite foods.
The apparent but unintended consequences of the lobbying success: a paper record-keeping system that has slowed investigators, with estimated business losses of $250 million US. So far, nearly 1,300 people in 43 states, the District of Columbia and Canada have fallen ill to salmonella since April.
Investigators initially focused on tomatoes as a culprit. Now they are turning attention to jalapeno peppers.
A former member of U.S. President George W. Bush's cabinet and three former senior officials in the Food and Drug Administration told the AP that government food safety experts did not get the strong record-keeping and trace-back system originally proposed under a bioterrorism law to cope with a major food-borne illness.
"In retrospect, yes, if they [the regulations] had been broader and a bit more far-reaching, it could have helped with this," said Robert Brackett, senior vice-president of the Grocery Manufacturers Association and formerly a top safety official at the FDA.
Under pressure in 2003 and 2004, the White House agreed to dilute record-keeping proposals by FDA safety experts.
"If the FDA had been given the resources and authority years ago that it asked for to solve these kinds of problems, I think we would have solved this already," said William Hubbard, a former FDA associate commissioner.
Tommy Thompson, health secretary during the industry's lobbying campaign, acknowledged that a more robust food-tracking system — opposed by business groups as too expensive — could have helped stem the current illnesses and business losses.
"We went in with the larger package but knew we had to compromise," Thompson told the AP. "I was satisfied with this being the first step. It's always better to be a Monday morning quarterback. We could have ended up with nothing. If we had more, would it help the situation now? Yes."
Lobbyists said new regulations would prove costly
According to government records reviewed by the AP, business groups met at least 10 times with the White House between March 2003 and March 2004, as the FDA regulations were under debate. Food industry lobbyists successfully blunted proposals using arguments familiar in other regulatory debates: The government's plans would saddle business with unnecessary and costly regulations.
The Washington-based Center for Science in the Public Interest obtained the White House meeting records under the Freedom of Information Act and provided them to the AP.
Participants in the meetings included companies and trade groups up and down the food chain, including:The Grocery Manufacturers Association spent $2.6 million US on lobbing in 2003 and 2004, the period when the FDA rules were under consideration, according to federal lobbying records. The Food Marketing Institute spent $1.7 million US during the period. The figures were for all lobbying by the trade groups and on their behalf.
- Altria Group Inc. and Kraft Foods Inc., when Altria was Kraft's parent.
- The Kroger Co.
- Safeway Inc.
- ConAgra Foods Inc.
- The Procter & Gamble Co.
- The American Forest and Paper Association.
- The Polystyrene Packaging Council.
- The Glass Packaging Institute.
- The Cocoa Merchants' Association of America.
- The World Shipping Council.
- The Food Marketing Institute.
David Acheson, the FDA official in charge of the current salmonella investigation, said the agency slowly is reviewing paper records to help trace tainted produce. But Acheson disputed arguments that an electronic records system would necessarily have helped investigators.
"We still haven't managed to figure out this outbreak," he said in an interview days before the case's biggest break — discovery of a tainted Mexican-grown jalapeno in a southern Texas warehouse.
But oh no, the Free Market would never let something like this happen! Industries will self-regulate if you neuter government oversight!
