I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1907 

To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to use consumer 

information maintained by retailers to improve recalls of food, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 2, 2009 

Mr. CASTLE (for himself and Ms. HARMAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to 

use consumer information maintained by retailers to improve recalls of food, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving Commu5 nication with Consumers During Food Recall Act of 

6 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. USING CONSUMER INFORMATION MAINTAINED BY 

2 RETAILERS TO IMPROVE RECALLS OF FOOD. 

3 (a) PROHIBITED ACT.—Section 301 of the Federal 

4 Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 331) is amend5 ed by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(oo) The failure to comply with an order issued 

7 under section 418 (regarding recalls of food).’’. 

8 (b) RECALL NOTICES.—Chapter IV of the Federal 

9 Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 341 et seq.) 

10 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 418. USING CONSUMER INFORMATION MAINTAINED 

12 BY RETAILERS TO IMPROVE RECALLS OF 

13 FOOD. 

14 ‘‘(a) APPLICABILITY.—This section applies in the 

15 case of any recall, whether voluntary or mandatory, of 

16 food that is adulterated or misbranded in a manner that, 

17 if consumed, may result in illness or injury. 

18 ‘‘(b) RECALL NOTICE.— 

19 ‘‘(1) RETAILER REQUIREMENTS.—To facilitate 

20 a recall described in subsection (a), the Secretary 

21 may by order require any retailer of the food— 

22 ‘‘(A) to inform the Secretary regarding 

23 whether the retailer has a system in place capa24 ble of identifying the persons who purchased 

25 the food; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) to issue a recall notice to those per2 sons if the retailer does have such a system in 

3 place. 

4 ‘‘(2) ISSUANCE OF NOTICE.—A recall notice 

5 issued under paragraph (1) shall— 

6 ‘‘(A) be made in such manner (which may 

7 include the use of telephone calls or electronic 

8 mail) and contain such information as the Sec9 retary may require; and 

10 ‘‘(B) be issued by— 

11 ‘‘(i) the retailer; or 

12 ‘‘(ii) a third party selected by the re13 tailer. 

14 ‘‘(c) REIMBURSEMENT.—If the Secretary requires a 

15 retailer to issue a recall notice for food under subsection 

16 (b), the Secretary shall— 

17 ‘‘(1) identify the manufacturers, importers, dis18 tributors, or other persons that most likely caused 

19 the adulteration or misbranding of the food; and 

20 ‘‘(2) by order require such persons to reimburse 

21 the retailer for any costs incurred to comply with an 

22 order issued under subsection (b). 

23 ‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—This section shall 

24 not be construed to authorize the Secretary to require any 

25 retailer— 


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1 ‘‘(1) to establish or maintain a system described 

2 in subsection (b)(1)(A); or 

3 ‘‘(2) to provide any information on the retailer’s 

4 customers, inventory, or sales to the manufacturer, 

5 importer, or distributor of the recalled food or to 

6 any person required under subsection (c) to pay re7 imbursement.’’. 

Æ 


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