BILL ANALYSIS
SB 173
Page 1
Date of Hearing: July 1, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
Cathleen Galgiani, Chair
SB 173 (Florez) - As Amended: June 1, 2009
SENATE VOTE : 26-12
Health 14-1
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|Ayes:|Jones, Ammiano, Block, Carter, Hill, | | |
| |De Leon, Hall, Hayashi, Hernandez, | | |
| |Bonnie Lowenthal, Nava, V. Manuel | | |
| |P?rez, Salas, Audra Strickland | | |
|-----+-------------------------------------+-+-------------------|
|Nays:|Gaines | | |
| | | | |
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SUBJECT : Food safety: food recalls.
SUMMARY : Allows the California Public Health Officer (PHO) to
implement regulations for voluntary recall of food that, without
intervention, could transmit illnesses or cause a secondary
illness or infection that can kill or cause serious health
problems in people.
EXISTING LAW authorizes the California Department of Public
Health (DPH), under the direction of the PHO (Health and Safety
Code section (HSC) 131005 et. seq.), to regulate food products
in California by: requiring food processors to register with
DPH; inspecting food processors; setting sanitation standards
for food processors; reviewing and collecting documents related
to the production, testing, and distribution of food products,
and collect samples (HSC 111950 et. seq.); the embargo and, if
necessary, destroying of adulterated food products (HSC 109875
et. seq.); and, subjecting food processors to fines for failure
to remove any product linked to an outbreak (HSC 131130). There
is no authority for requiring recalls of product.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Committee on
Appropriations, this bill has unknown, but likely significant,
costs to the general fund. This bill has been amended since.
SB 173
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COMMENTS : According to the author, this bill is intended to
provide PHO with the authority to effectively protect public
health in the event of a food-borne illness outbreak. The
author notes that DPH lacks the statutory authority to issue
mandatory recalls and does not have any regulations to guide its
actions during a voluntary recall. This authority would allow
DPH to adopt regulations governing the appropriate actions to
take during a food-borne illness recall and empowers public
health officials to act quickly to protect the public health.
Two recent California food-borne contaminations, the E.coli
spinach out break in 2006 and the salmonella tainted pistachio
recall in March 2009, highlight the potential public health
dangers facing consumers and the economic harm facing food
producers due to food-borne illness outbreaks. The January 2009
recall of salmonella-tainted peanut butter, made in Georgia, was
worsened by allegations that the manufacturer knew of the
problem and misled the federal Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) during its initial investigation of a peanut butter
manufacturing plant.
Voluntary recalls are initiated by a responsible business. DPH
works to mitigate the public health risks associated with
recalled products by providing information to the public and
collaborating with local, state, and federal agencies to
minimize public harm. DPH accomplishes this by coordinating
recalled product distribution information, performing laboratory
analysis, and conducting recall effectiveness audits when
feasible. DPH also assists the responsible firm in notifying
their merchandise shippers and the public about the recall. DPH
cannot initiate a recall of products. A prior version of this
bill provided DPH with mandatory recall authority, which was
deleted in the Senate Committee on Appropriations
Allowing DPH to develop voluntary recall regulations should
improve response time in getting information to the public
regarding food recalls and aid DPH in its mandate to protect the
public health. Once a voluntary recall has been initiated,
providing quick and accurate information is one of the best ways
to protect the public. Voluntary recall regulations may assist
the food producing industry by clarifying the process DPH will
follow during a recall. FDA has asked for similar authority in
light of recent food product recalls.
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Due to DPH's authorization to extensively review a business's
records, the Committee may wish to consider whether DPH, in
adopting voluntary recall regulations, should consider
protecting proprietary information of a business when releasing
product recall information.
The Committee may wish to consider whether DPH, in adopting
voluntary recall regulations, should be encouraged to develop a
stakeholder working group of representative from within consumer
groups, the food producing industry, scientific experts and
public health officials to ensure the regulations adopted are
effective and efficient.
PENDING LEGISLATION : AB 1021 (Emmerson), of 2009, would permit
authorized agents of DPH, upon identifying conditions likely to
result in illness or injury at a food processing establishment
(FPE), to immediately suspend the license or registration of the
FPE and order the FPE to close immediately pending an
administrative hearing. AB 1021 is pending in the Assembly
Committee on Health.
AB 1372 (Feuer), of 2009, would require specified FPEs to adopt
and implement a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point
(HACCP) plan; conduct regular testing of ingredient and product
samples or specimens; and, report any test result that is
positive for poisonous or deleterious substances to DPH within
24 hours, as specified. AB 1372 was held on the Assembly
Committee on Appropriations suspense file.
PREVIOUS LEGISLATION : SB 200 (Florez), of 2007-08, would have
authorized PHO to adopt recall, quarantine, and sanitary
regulations necessary to prevent or eliminate conditions where
produce or food processed from tainted produce could seriously
affect the health of humans. This bill would have required all
leafy green vegetable growers to be licensed by DPH and would
have established an inspection program for leafy green
vegetables to conduct extensive field inspections for compliance
with food safety requirements. SB 200 failed passage in the
Assembly Committee on Agriculture.
SB 201 (Florez), of 2007-08, as first heard in Committee, would
have established a state-mandated standard for "Good
Agricultural Practices" and a HACCP program through DPH. This
bill was amended in the Assembly, narrowing the focus to a
voluntary HACCP plan for raw milk producers. SB 201was vetoed.
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SB 202 (Florez), of 2007-08, would have established a system to
trace back to the field for all California leafy green
production. SB 202 failed passage in the Assembly Committee on
Agriculture.
SB 611 (Speier), Chapter 592, Statutes of 2006, requires a meat
or poultry supplier, distributor, broker, or processor to
immediately notify the Department of Health Services, now DPH,
as specified, when meat or poultry products sold are subject to
a federal Class I or II recall.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Victor Francovich / AGRI. / (916)
319-2084