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PANUPS: US Food Safety Under Attack



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                         P A N U P S
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                   Pesticide Action Network 
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U.S. Food Safety Under Attack

July 1, 1996

U.S. environmental groups are mounting campaigns to stop 
several bills and amendments now pending before Congress that 
would weaken food safety laws. Congress may vote on some of 
these measures in the next few weeks or months.

The "Food Quality Protection Act," backed by the chemical and 
food industries and agribusiness, would weaken the existing 
Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act by repealing the Delaney 
Clause. The Delaney Clause, passed in 1958, bans the use of 
cancer causing additives including food coloring, animal 
drugs and pesticides, in processed foods. Under the proposed 
bill, the Delaney Clause would be repealed and replaced with 
an undefined "negligible risk" standard, which will allow an 
"acceptable number" of additional cancers over a lifetime. 
The bill would also allow the negligible risk provision to be 
overridden by economic benefits in some instances. 

Groups such as the National Coalition Against the Misuse of 
Pesticides (NCAMP), the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives 
to Pesticides (NCAP), the National Campaign for Pesticide 
Policy Reform (NCPPR), and the Pesticide Action Network North 
America (PANNA) maintain that the clause should instead be 
strengthened to include bans on cancer-causing and other high 
hazard pesticides in all, not just processed, foods. 

While the bill requires that data be collected on the 
consumption of foods that children eat as well as other 
related research, it does not require that any of the 
recommendations outlined in the National Academy of Sciences' 
report "Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children" be 
implemented. These recommendations include requiring that 
special methodologies and safety factors for evaluating 
pesticides be established for children, and that all sources 
of exposure (such as food, water, lawn, home use) as well as 
multiple pesticide exposures be considered in setting 
standards.

Under the proposed "Food Quality Protection Act," the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would be required to 
justify any pesticide residue tolerance that is different 
than those set by Codex Alimentarius. The Codex is an 
international advisory body whose acts are not legally 
binding and involve minimal public participation. Tolerances 
set by the Codex are often much lower than EPA standards. The 
bill would also eliminate a state's right to adopt standards 
for pesticides in foods stricter than those set at the 
federal level, and pre-empt local governments from 
establishing local pesticide controls, such as programs 
calling for integrated pest management in schools or lawn 
care notification.

The Delaney Clause is also threatened by the "Food Amendments 
and the Animal Drug Availability Act of 1996," which is part 
of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reform package. 
This bill also replaces the Delaney Clause with a standard 
based on "negligible and insignificant risk" and contains 
language to pre-empt states from setting food tolerances. The 
preemption, or "national uniformity," provisions will 
eliminate all state food safety and labeling laws, now in 
effect in 48 states, such as shellfish warning labels in 
Florida and California, freshness dating in Ohio, and kosher 
and organic labeling laws across the U.S. In addition, food 
additives approved for use in a European country would now be 
"deemed approved" in the U.S., without any additional review. 
Other food safety threats include repealing the federal 
requirement that irradiated foods be labeled; privatizing 
food safety reviews; allowing manufacturers to hire private 
firms to test food safety and health claims made on labels; 
repealing use of standard terminology for nutrient content 
claims and allowing nongovernmental panels to make binding 
determination on these claims; and shifting the burden of 
disproving claims and privatized reviews to the U.S. Food and 
Drug Administration.

Groups opposing these bills propose a list of recommendations 
to reform U.S. pesticide laws, including:

** Make the Delaney Clause stronger, not weaker.
** Protect children more effectively by implementing the 
National Academy of Sciences recommendations.
** Allocate more funding for research and dissemination of 
least-toxic and non-chemical alternatives to pesticides.
** Provide government subsidies to help farmers make the 
transition to reduced pesticide use.
** Phase out the most hazardous pesticides from the food and 
water supply.

Action: Tell your Representatives and Senators to vote 
against the "Food Quality Protection Act" (H.R. 1627 and S. 
1166), the "Food Amendments and Animal Drug Availability Act 
of 1996" (H.R. 3200) and the House version, the "FDA 
Performance and Accountability Act" (S. 1477) and any other 
legislation that overturns the Delaney Clause or otherwise 
weakens food safety standards. To obtain telephone numbers, 
contact the Congressional Switchboard: (202) 224-3121.

Source: NCAP Pesticide Action Alert, May 1996; NCAMP 
Technical Report, May 1996; NCPPR, The Attack of Food Safety: 
The Bliley-Roberts Pesticide Bill. 

Contact: 
NCAMP, 701 E Street SE, Suite 200, Washington DC 20003; phone 
(202) 543-5450; fax (202) 543-4791; email ncamp@igc.apc.org.
NCAP, Box 1393, Eugene, OR 97440; phone (541) 344-5044; fax 
(503) 344-6923; email ncap@igc.apc.org.
NCPPR, 1828 Jefferson Place NW, Washington DC 20036; phone 
(202) 955-3810; fax (202) 955-3814; email ncppr@igc.apc.org.

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