By Mark Huffman
ConsumerAffairs.com
July 20, 2010
The House of Representatives passed a food safety bill nearly a year ago, but action in the Senate has stalled. Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) openly expressed his impatience this week.
In a letter to Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA), Dingell expressed his "deep concern" over the lack of progress by the Senate on legislation that he has championed. He did more than that. He appeared to blame the delay on Feinstein's amendment to the legislation that would place a ban on the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in food and beverage containers.
"While I am sensitive to your goals and believe that your intentions are virtuous, I respectfully ask that you reconsider your current obstruction on this issue and find a suitable compromise that would allow prompt consideration of critically needed food safety legislation," Dingell wrote.
The public critique of a fellow Democrat did not sit well with the California senator, who replied with a letter of her own.
"I am surprised that, as a longtime legislator, you released a public letter based on inaccurate information before reaching out to me personally," Feinstein said in a letter to Dingell.
The intra-party dust-up concerns a bill that would give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the power to recall tainted food, quarantine certain areas and review food producers' records. Supporters have called it a vital step in improving U.S. food safety and preventing recalls triggered by outbreaks of foodborne illness.
Opposition
Feinstein's attempt to ban BPA in food and beverage containers, while applauded by many consumer groups, has drawn opposition from the food industry, which has generally supported the bill otherwise.
Dingell said the House version of the legislation, which would not ban BPA, passed with bipartisan support. The legislation, he says, "will make the greatest improvements to food and drug law since 1938 and will save the lives of thousands of Americans."
In her reply to Dingell, Feinstein denied that she had placed a hold on the legislation, or was blocking it in any way. She said she is currently working with Senate colleagues to strike a compromise on BPA.
The Food Safety Modernization Act appeared headed for a Senate vote in early May when Feinstein introduced her amendment. Feinstein, a long-time BPA foe, said at the time that the National Toxicology Program in the Department of Health and Human Services has citied "some concern" that BPA may affect neural development in fetuses, infants and children at current human exposures. She said dozens of additional peer-reviewed scientific papers have also found evidence of adverse health effects such as increases in breast and prostate cancer risk, heart disease, liver abnormalities and diabetes.
The FDA's official stand, at least for the moment, is the amount of BPA found in food and beverage containers does not pose a threat to human health.
BPA is used in a wide variety of consumer products, including food containers, water bottles and baby bottles, although many retailers, including Wal-Mart, have dropped children's products containing the chemical.
