More on Food Safety

Both California Senators, Boxer and Feinstein, are raising objections to the impending efforts by the Feds to preempt all state regulations on food safety that are stronger than the proposed federal standards. This measure , if approved, might be even considered unconstitutional. For over two centuries the states had to meet the Federal standards but had the choice to require tougher standards if and when they choose. It is ironic that a Republican led administration is willing to weaken the power of the states in order to serve its arching interest, weaken environmental standards. The following exerpt is a more detailed explanation of this bill.

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The National Uniformity for Food Act of 2005, otherwise known as H.R. 4167, has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? Sadly, this bill now being considered in the U.S. House of Representatives is anything but nice to the safety and well-being of people concerned about safe food.In fact, the bill should probably be called The Nullification of State Food Safety Laws. H.R. 4167 would nullify state-level protections against the many food safety threats the federal government has ignored.States cannot water down federal laws and regulations, but our tradition of federal government has always upheld states’ rights to adopt more protective laws and create rules where no federal rules exist. But now, the factory farm and food industry lobbyists in Washington, D.C are on the verge of taking away our right to protect ourselves at the state level.It is imperative that advocates for safe food (and for democracy) share these concerns with our federal legislators. We must urge Congress to oppose H.R. 4167, before it preempts vital state laws that protect consumers from toxins and other contaminants in our food supply. California’s Proposition 65 law, for example, would be undermined by H.R. 4167. In California, Proposition 65 requires seafood markets to post mercury warning signs, helping to protect children, expecting mothers and unborn babies from the all-too-real threat of mercury in seafood. Some supermarket chains outside of California, like Safeway and Wild Oats, have even voluntarily started using the California warnings as models for posting fish advisories in all their stores nationwide. Proposition 65 is one of the nation’s strongest public health measures, and the food industry lobbyists are working to invalidate the law with this federal food preemption bill.And it’s not just California that would be affected. The Congressional Budget Office says this food safety preemption legislation could nullify about 120 state and local food safety or labeling requirements nationwide. Given the factory farm industry and the Bush Administration’s ongoing assault on environmental and food safety protections, it’s likely that many if not all state level food safety rules would be lost if H.R. 4167 passes.