Congress Continues to Consider Food Safety, Nutrition and Wellness Bills; Out on Recess

The 111th Congress is now on recess until April 20, 2009, but before legislators left Washington, D.C. for their district offices, they introduced several more bills relating to food safety, nutrition or wellness. They include:

• H.R. 1869 – Introduced April 2, 2009, by Representative James McGovern (D-Mass.), this bill would require the president to convene a “White House Conference on Food and Nutrition.” The main focus of the bill is addressing hunger and food insecurity. It has been referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
• H.R. 1897 – Introduced April 2, 2009, by Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), this proposal would amend the Internal Revenue Code to give employers a tax credit for the costs of implementing workplace wellness programs that would have health awareness, employee engagement, behavioral change, and supportive environment components. Among the targets of the legislation are obesity and fitness. The bill, which has a companion in the Senate (S. 803), has been referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
• H.R. 1907 – Introduced April 2, 2009, by Representative Michael Castle (R-Del.), this bill would amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to allow the Food and Drug Administration to require food retailers to use information they maintain on customer purchases to issue recall notices. The bill has been referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
• S. 753 – Introduced March 31, 2009, by Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), this bill would prohibit the manufacture, sale or distribution of food and beverage containers with bisphenol A (BPA), marketed for infants and toddlers. The “BPA-Free Kids Act” would also mandate testing and certification by plastics and container manufacturers and would require the Consumer Product Safety Commission to audit plastic resin test data provided by suppliers and manufacturers. The bill would ensure that consumers can identify containers made from tested materials by requiring “Compliant with BPA-Free Kids Act 2009” on product labels. Criminal and civil penalties would be set for violations, and any children’s food or beverage containers manufactured with BPA would be considered a “banned hazardous substance” under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act. The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Schumer, who co-sponsored similar legislation in 2008, reportedly gave his support to a New York county initiative that would also have banned BPA. He apparently praised the Suffolk County Legislature as the first governmental body in the country to pass a BPA ban, saying at a press conference that it was “ahead of the curve.” See Product Liability Law 360, March 30, 2009.

In a related development, Illinois lawmakers are also considering a proposal (H.B. 2485) that would prohibit the sale or distribution of food and beverage containers with BPA, intended for children younger than age 3. It was amended in the House to include an exemption for metal cans and has been re-referred to that body’s Rules Committee. A news editorial called on the state legislature to approve the law, asking whether legislators would “want your son, daughter, grandson or granddaughter to drink milk from a BPA-laced bottle or cup today?” See Daily Herald, April 2, 2009.