Re: S 510 - Sneaky b**** up to it again

[Guest guest]

I get regular updates from Rima Labaugh and she has action links to send a

letter to your representatives on issues like this based on your zip code.  It

seems that they work very, very hard on issues close to the government.  Before

this they fought against the healthcare bill.

________________________________

From: skpounds14 <skpounds14@...>

Coconut Oil

Sent: Fri, December 10, 2010 12:08:39 PM

Subject: S 510 - Sneaky b**** up to it again

 

S 510 Food Safety bill is still alive and may unleash a new army of FDA agents

http://www.naturalnews.com/030672_Food_Safety_bill_FDA.html

Received this email today from ANH.

URGENT ACTION ALERT! Food Safety Bill Language Has Been Resurrected

Please take action TODAY thru the ANH or NaturalNews links.

A Message from the Alliance for Natural Health USA

On December 8, the House of Representatives passed a Continuing

Resolution (CR) H.R.3082. A CR is supposed to provide temporary, stopgap funding

for the government while budget bills are worked out. But this CR included the

language of the Senate food safety bill-language that will still affect small

food producers (organic farms, small farms, mom-and-pop roadside stands, etc.)

most of all. It will completely transform the food and farming industries-for

the worse.

http://aahf.convio.net/site/R?i=4dqypbPiMLyBODAPL-tQlw..

http://aahf.convio.net/site/R?i=ehbsnXBLOTm6PCq4H7eeMg..

Putting the text of another bill into a CR is a prime example of the way

Congress operates. It is ethically wrong; indeed it is an example of corruption.

We saw this kind of slight of hand in the passage of the health reform

legislation, and the American public should be fed up with it.

Now this House CR goes back to the Senate, which is expected to pick it up by

the middle of next week. The rumor is that instead of dealing with the CR

directly, Sen. Inouye (D-HI) will introduce the Senate's own omnibus bill

http://aahf.convio.net/site/R?i=f_C5hEqCW9aggd4giV7YyA..

(even larger than the CR) that will also contain the food safety language along

and who knows what else.

This is a bad bill, on its own or attached to another piece of legislation. We

are grateful that the changes we lobbied for have stayed in the bill, including

the exemption for supplements from Codex language and the Tester amendment

that protects small farms from some of the bill's provisions.

But the bill still gives the FDA much too much control over farming in general

and small producers inparticular.

Three specific concerns remain, all major:

1. The bill mandates that every registered facility must be inspected by the

FDA: high-risk facilities will be inspected initially within the first five

years and then every three years thereafter; low-risk facilities, initially

within seven years, and then every

five. The FDA will need to hire an additional 5,000 employees to do all the

inspections. Big companies love this, because the FDA will be so bogged down

inspecting all the smaller operations that they won't have time to focus on the

big guys-where the actual food safety problems arise. Food safety legislation

should be targeted at the large industrial farms, but, no surprise, this bill

does just the opposite.

2. Language in the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act currently reads:

An officer or qualified employee of the Food and Drug Administration may order

the detention, in accordance with this subsection, of any article of food that

is found during an inspection, examination, or investigation under this chapter

conducted by such officer or qualified employee, if the officer or qualified

employee has credible evidence or information indicating that such article

presents a threat of serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or

animals.

Under this bill, the boldfaced text above would be

changed to:

if the officer or qualified employee has reason to believe that such article is

adulterated or misbranded.

And remember, as interpreted by the FDA, a food or supplement may be deemed

" adulterated " if there have been any record-keeping violations. " Misbranded " can

mean that the producer makes a completely true statement about the product but

without FDA permission.

So when the FDA is inspecting a facility, if they merely believe an item is

misbranded or adulterated-no concrete evidence is required-they can confiscate

all of that product. If there is a suspected record-keeping error for a

supplement, the entire stock can be taken by the FDA.

3. A company has to be registered to operate. Under this bill, if the FDA finds

there to be a reasonable probability that a product may cause serious adverse

health consequences or death to humans or animals, the FDA may suspend that

facility's registration, effectively shutting it down. This seems reasonable,

but there is only one informal opportunity for companies to reinstate

registration, with no opportunity whatsoever to appeal-they are at the mercy of

an FDA inspector's whim. This should not be allowed in America.

Why does all of this matter? Keep in mind the FDA has consistently done

Big Pharma's bidding and has attacked supplement companies and small food

producers (such as the cherry and walnut growers). The bill gives the FDA

unbridled authority to ratchet things up even further. The FDA needs to focus on

large producers, not get its tentacles onto small producers.

Please contact your senators TODAY and ask them to oppose the food safety bill

language that is currently in the CR (though it might be found in the omnibus

bill next week). This may be our last chance to defeat this bill-please take

action immediately!

TO SEND YOUR MESSAGE TO YOUR SENATORS

Click THIS LINK to go to the Action Alert page. Once there, fill out the form

with your name and address, etc., and customize your letter. We have a suggested

message for you, but please feel free to add your own comments to the letter.

http://aahf.convio.net/site/R?i=ac9FIYFhfxwpqDQvF1XaXw..

Follow ANH-USA on Twitter & Facebook!

http://aahf.convio.net/site/R?i=3MIyaop9jfK7begN2MGc5w..

http://aahf.convio.net/site/R?i=QMolZIptTj_tMDhx1ckWRA..

The Alliance for Natural Health USA

1350 Connecticut Ave NW, 5th Floor, Washington, DC 20036

Ph: 800.230.2762

www.anh-usa.org