Information about the vote from special interest groups and other information providers in our Report Cards:
American Public Health Association
USDA pathogen safety standards - H.R. 2330,
FY 2002 U.S. Department of Agriculture and Food
and Drug Administration appropriations bill. Motion
to table the Nelson, RNeb.,
amendment to the
Harkin, D-Iowa, amendment
clarifying the authority
of USDA to use
pathogen performance
standards to regulate the
safety of meat and poultry
products. The Nelson
amendment would not
have clarified this authority.
With the Senate failing
to remove the Nelson provision
from it, Harkin
withdrew his amendment.
Failed.
APHA has long supported
the use of public health
standards to assure product
safety, commenting in
support when a salmonella
standard for meat
and poultry was developed
in 1995. With the
standard in place, product
contamination and foodborne
illnesses have
declined. In December
2001, a federal appeals
court ruled that USDA
lacked the authority under
current law to stop production
at plants that violate
the salmonella
standard. APHA supports
the efforts of members of
Congress seeking to
amend the law to clarify
congressional intent in
support of pathogen performance
standards as regulatory
tools. Relevant
APHA policy: 9907.