WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. John Baldacci, D-Maine, who serves on the House Agriculture Committee, has reintroduced legislation aimed at strengthening the nation’s meat and poultry inspection process. Given this month’s major recall of ground beef produced by ConAgra of Colorado, and recent studies indicating deficiencies in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s system for inspecting plants, the measure seeks to enhance national safeguards against food-borne pathogens.

The Safe and Fair Enforcement and Recall for Meat and Poultry Act of 2002 (House Resolution 4834) would amend federal food inspection laws to increase the agriculture secretary’s authority to recall meat and poultry, to withdraw federal inspectors from delinquent facilities, and to impose civil penalties for violations. The measure also requires individuals with reason to believe that meat or poultry products are contaminated or misbranded to notify the secretary of agriculture.

A recent study by the Government Accountability Project and the Public Citizen organization highlighted serious deficiencies in the sampling program, which is so integral to USDA’s Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point food inspection program. Additionally, the General Accounting Office has drafted a report, which indicates that USDA has failed to identify and correct glaring oversight problems with HACCP plans at individual processing plants.

“Given new and emerging threats to public health and our national security, this nation cannot afford a crisis of confidence in its food supplies,” Baldacci said. “My bill would expedite the removal of potentially contaminated products from store shelves and provide greater enforcement authority to protect public health.”

Food-borne contaminants, such as E. coli and salmonella, are estimated to cause 75 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths per year.