-Caveat Lector-
Bush administration to review listeria proposal
Copyright © 2001 Nando Media
Copyright © 2001 Scripps Howard News Service
By LANCE GAY, Scripps Howard News Service
WASHINGTON (January 29, 2001 9:02 a.m. EST
http://www.nandotimes.com) - The Bush administration has pulled back for
review a food-safety regulation aimed at forcing meat and cheese
processors to do more testing to prevent listeria-tainted cold cuts and
cheeses from reaching supermarket shelves.
Consumer groups said they were disappointed by the delay in publishing
the 300-page regulation. President Clinton had ordered the regulation after
an outbreak of listeria in hot dogs and deli meats was linked to 21 deaths
and 100 illnesses in Michigan two years ago.
Listeria is a bacteria named after British physician Joseph Lister. The
bacteria appears in prepared meats, including hot dogs and hard sausage,
and unpasteurized "soft" cheeses such as camembert and brie. According
to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the bacteria is
responsible for 2,300 hospitalizations and 500 deaths a year.
The bacteria can cause miscarriage and be fatal to the elderly or those with
compromised immune systems. Because of this, the government last year
recommended that pregnant women and those at risk avoid deli meats and
soft cheeses. It also recommended that they reheat all prepared food.
"I'm troubled the listeria rule is being held back," said Caroline Smith
DeWaal, director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. "This is
not a good first step out of the administration."
Representatives of the food-processing industry said they don't know
what's in the regulation because it has yet to be published.
Former Agriculture Department Secretary Dan Glickman said he was
releasing the regulation Jan. 18, two days before his office term expired.
But it was not released because President Bush's first action on taking
office Jan. 20 was to issue an executive order freezing any pending federal
rules - including the listeria proposal - until all can be reviewed by the new
administration.
The National Food Processors Association, the Washington voice for the
$460-billion food processing industry, questioned why the new regulation
was rushed to publication two days before the Clinton administration left
office.
Spokesman Timothy Willard said public outbreaks have declined over the
last five years as the industry has adopted voluntary testing at meat
processing plants.
Willard said the industry supports scientific testing for pathogens at plants,
but doesn't have a specific position on the listeria regulation because it
hasn't been published.
Under a Clinton administration "Healthy People 2010" program, the
government's food safety experts were putting together a plan aimed at
cutting the number of listeria outbreaks 50 percent by 2010. But following
the outbreak in Michigan, Clinton last May ordered the Agriculture
Department to accomplish that goal by 2005, and take other "aggressive
steps" to reduce the risk of illness from foods.
The government already is implementing new testing procedures at meat-
packing plants for salmonella, a more prevalent pathogen in raw meat.
Glickman had said that the new listeria regulations would provide the
industry with guidance for safe preparation of processed foods, increase
surveillance and outbreak response, and provide technical assistance to
train employees on detecting the bacteria. The industry said it supports
those goals.
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