BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE FOOD and AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE
Senator Dean Florez, Chairman
BILL NO: SB 173 HEARING: 4/21/09
AUTHOR: Florez FISCAL: Yes
VERSION: 4/20/09 CONSULTANT: John Chandler
Food Safety
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
According to the Centers for Disease Control, it is estimated
that each year 76 million Americans get sick, 300,000 are
hospitalized, and 5,000 die from food-borne illnesses.
In 2006, SB 162 (Ortiz) transferred public health programs from
the Department of Health Services (DHS) to a new California
Department of Public Health (CDPH). The State Public Health
Officer, serving as the executive officer of DPH, is a
governor-appointed physician and surgeon who has substantial
scientific, medical, public health, leadership, and management
experience.
According to the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a
Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan is a
systematic approach to identifying, evaluating, and controlling
food safety hazards. HACCP involves seven principles to ensure
food safety at a food production site: analyze hazards,
identify critical control points, establish preventive measures
with critical limits for each control point, establish
procedures to monitor the critical control points, establish
corrective actions to be taken when monitoring shows that a
critical limit has not been met, establish procedures to verify
that the system is working properly, and establish effective
recordkeeping to document the HACCP system,
The National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for
Foods (NACMCF) was established on March 18, 1988, in response to
recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences for an
interagency approach to microbiological criteria for foods.
The NACMCF provides impartial, scientific advice to federal food
safety agencies for use in the development of an integrated
national food safety system approach from farm to final
consumption to assure the safety of domestic, imported, and
exported foods. The NACMCF was instrumental in formulating and
standardizing the principles of HACCP and NACMCF subcommittees
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have developed microbiological criteria for specific foods such
as raw shellfish, cooked ready-to-eat shrimp, and crabmeat.
NACMCF reports provide current information and scientific advice
to participating federal food safety agencies and serve as a
foundation for regulations and programs aimed at reducing
food-borne disease and enhancing public health.
California has been the source of a number of food-borne illness
outbreaks. Most recently, a California pistachio processor has
been identified as the source of a nationwide recall of
salmonella-contaminated pistachios. First identified on March
26 by a Kraft Foods food-borne illness test, FDA was able to
trace back the contamination to a California pistachio producer,
Setton Farms of Terra Bella, which resulted in a nationwide
recall of Setton pistachios and pistachio products.
Earlier, California was identified as the source of a nationwide
outbreak of E. coli from spinach production. The spinach
outbreak sickened 204 people across 26 states and lead to the
death of three people.
Previous food safety legislation in 2007:
SB 200 (Florez) would have authorized the State Public Health
Officer to adopt recall, quarantine, and sanitary regulations
necessary to prevent or eliminate conditions where produce or
food processed from produce may carry an illness, infection,
pathogen, contagion, toxin or condition that could kill or
seriously affect the health of humans. SB200 would have
required all leafy green vegetable growers to be licensed by the
State Department of Public Health. The bill also would have
established an inspection program for leafy green vegetables
under the State Public Health Officer to conduct field
inspections for compliance with food safety requirements and
conduct field water, soil, and produce tests. Status: Failed in
Assembly Agriculture Committee.
SB 201 (Florez), as first heard in committee, would have
established a state-mandated standard for Good Agriculture
Practices and Hazardous Analysis and Critical Control Point
program through Department of Public Health. However, the bill
was gutted and amended in the Assembly to establish the Fresh
Raw Milk Act of 2008, requiring raw milk dairy farms that chose
to comply with the requirements of this bill to develop and
maintain an individualized Hazard Analysis Critical Control
Point (HACCP) plan. Status: Vetoed.
SB 202 (Florez) would have established a system to trace back to
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the field for all California leafy green production. Status:
Failed in Assembly Agriculture Committee.
PROPOSED LAW
SB 173 does the following:
Provides CDPH with mandatory recall authority of food
believed with reasonable practice or scientific research,
to carry a food borne-illness, infection, pathogen,
contagion, toxin, or cause illness in humans.
Requires all growers or food processors that test for
food-borne illness to maintain records and results of those
tests for at least two years and have them available for
inspection by CDPH.
Requires growers or food processors that receive a
positive test result for food-borne illness to report to
the California Department of Public Health within one hour
of the test result.
Requires those growers and food processors responsible
for a food-borne illness or outbreak: if found liable they
must pay triple damages to any food-borne illness victim,
have onsite inspection by an agent of CDPH at least eight
times per month for at least on year at the expense of the
grower or food processor, and suspend operation as
determined by CDPH but not more than six months.
Specifies that in the event of a food-borne illness or
outbreak those growers, food processors, or food facilities
that have a written HACCP plan and routinely test their
food product for a microbe, pathogen, poisonous chemical,
or other harmful substance that may cause food-borne
disease, are exempt from the provisions that they must pay
triple liability to any food-borne illness victim, have
onsite inspection by an agent of CDPH at least eight times
per month for at least one year at the expense of the
grower or food processor, and suspend operation as
determined by CDPH but not more than six months.
COMMENTS
1.According to the author's office, food-borne illness poses a
significant threat to both consumer and the food industry. SB
173 would provide much-needed communication between CDPH and
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industries monitoring their product for food-borne illnesses.
This would give CDPH the ability to rapidly respond to
detection of any potential food-borne illness to reduce public
exposure. SB 173 would provide a system for growers and
processors to protect themselves from food-borne illness
contaminations of their products through established methods
of control such as HACCP and routine testing.
In 2004, a United States Government Accountability Office
(GAO) report entitled "Food Safety: USDA and FDA Need to
Better Ensure Prompt and Complete Recalls of Potentially
Unsafe Food." In the report, the GAO finds that there are
"weaknesses in USDA's and FDA's food recall programs [that]
heighten the risk that unsafe food will remain in the food
supply and ultimately be consumed. Specifically, USDA and FDA
do not know how promptly and completely the recalling
companies and their distributors and other customers are
carrying out recalls, and neither agency is using its data
systems to effectively track and manage its recall programs."
2.SB 173 could require inspections by CDPH on grower facilities,
farms, ranches, poultry barns, etc. in the event of a
food-borne illness outbreak. Regulations on farms such as
crop standards and pest exclusion programs have fallen to
CDFA. Given the current experience of CDFA conducting field
inspections and their existing infrastructure supporting field
inspections, the committee may want to consider if CDFA should
be involved in the food grower inspections.
3.Currently, CDPH has the authority to embargo produce from
being sold into the food supply chain. An embargo would
essentially stop further distribution or the sale of any food
items designated by CDPH. The committee may want to consider
if adding the authority to recall would provide greater
protection.
4.Historically, HACCP programs have been designed for use within
a processing facility. These programs are very successful in
controlling threats to food safety within a processing plant.
Since HACCP was developed for use in a controlled processing
facility, it is unclear how this program would translate to
use on food growers. The committee may want to consider the
use of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) in place of HACCP
where determined appropriate.
SUPPORT
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None received
OPPOSITION
None received