II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3358 

To provide for enhanced food-borne illness surveillance and food safety 

capacity. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 29 (legislative day, JULY 28), 2008 

Mr. REID (for Mr. OBAMA) introduced the following bill; which was read twice 

and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To provide for enhanced food-borne illness surveillance and 

food safety capacity. 

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 Food-borne 

5 Illness Surveillance and Response Act of 2008’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ENHANCED FOOD-BORNE ILLNESS SURVEILLANCE. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

8 (1) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of Health and 

9 Human Services (referred to in this section as the 


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1 ‘‘Secretary’’) shall strengthen and expand food-borne 

2 illness surveillance systems to— 

3 (A) inform and evaluate efforts to prevent 

4 food-borne illness; and 

5 (B) enhance the identification and inves6 tigation of, and response to, food-borne illness 

7 outbreaks. 

8 (2) FOOD-BORNE ILLNESS OUTBREAK.—For 

9 purposes of this section, the term ‘‘food-borne illness 

10 outbreak’’ means the occurrence of 2 or more cases 

11 of a similar illness resulting from the ingestion of a 

12 common food. 

13 (b) FOOD-BORNE ILLNESS SURVEILLANCE SYS14 TEMS.—The Secretary, acting through the Director of the 

15 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shall enhance 

16 food-borne illness surveillance systems to improve the col17 lection, analysis, reporting, and usefulness of data on food18 borne illnesses by— 

19 (1) coordinating food-borne illness surveillance 

20 systems, including complaint systems, in order to— 

21 (A) produce better information on illnesses 

22 associated with foods, including sources and 

23 risk factors for infections by emerging patho24 gens; and 


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1 (B) facilitate sharing of data acquisition 

2 and findings on a more timely basis among gov3 ernmental agencies, including the Food and 

4 Drug Administration, the Food Safety and In5 spection Service, and State and local agencies, 

6 and with the public; 

7 (2) augmenting such systems to improve attri8 bution of a food-borne illness outbreak to a specific 

9 food; 

10 (3) developing improved epidemiological tools 

11 for obtaining quality exposure data, microbiological 

12 methods for classifying cases and detecting clusters, 

13 and improved tracebacks to rapidly and specifically 

14 identify contaminated food products; 

15 (4) expanding capacity of such systems for im16 plementation of fingerprinting strategies for food17 borne infectious agents, including parasites and hep18 atitis A, in order to increase pathogen discovery ef19 forts to identify new or rarely documented causes of 

20 food-borne illness; 

21 (5) allowing timely public access to de-identi22 fied, aggregate surveillance data; 

23 (6) at least annually, publishing current reports 

24 on findings from such systems; 


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1 (7) exploring establishment of registries for 

2 long-term case follow-up to better characterize late 

3 complications of food-borne illness; 

4 (8) increasing participation in national net5 works of public health and food regulatory agencies 

6 and laboratories to— 

7 (A) allow public health officials at the Fed8 eral, State, and local levels to share and accept 

9 laboratory analytic findings; and 

10 (B) identify food-borne illness outbreaks 

11 and attribute such outbreaks to specific foods 

12 through submission of standardized molecular 

13 subtypes (also known as ‘‘fingerprints’’) of 

14 food-borne illness pathogens to a centralized 

15 database; and 

16 (9) establishing a flexible mechanism for rapidly 

17 supporting scientific research by academic centers of 

18 excellence, which may include staff representing aca19 demic clinical researchers, food microbiologists, ani20 mal and plant disease specialists, ecologists, and 

21 other allied disciplines. 

22 (c) IMPROVING STATE SURVEILLANCE CAPACITY.— 

23 The Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers 

24 for Disease Control and Prevention and the Commissioner 


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1 of Food and Drugs, shall improve capacity for surveillance 

2 in the States by— 

3 (1) supporting outbreak investigations with 

4 needed specialty expertise, including epidemiological, 

5 microbiological, and environmental expertise, to as6 sist identification of underlying common sources and 

7 contributing factors; 

8 (2) identifying, disseminating, and supporting 

9 implementation of model practices at the State and 

10 local level for— 

11 (A) facilitating rapid shipment of clinical 

12 isolates from clinical laboratories to State pub13 lic health laboratories to avoid delays in testing; 

14 (B) conducting rapid and more standard15 ized interviewing of cases associated with major 

16 enteric pathogens, including prior to designa17 tion of clusters as food-borne illness outbreaks; 

18 (C) conducting and evaluating rapid and 

19 standardized interviews of healthy control per20 sons; 

21 (D) sharing information on a timely 

22 basis— 

23 (i) within public health and food regu24 latory agencies; 

25 (ii) among such agencies; 


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1 (iii) with the food industry; 

2 (iv) with healthcare providers; and 

3 (v) with the public; 

4 (3) developing, regularly updating, and dissemi5 nating training curricula on food-borne illness sur6 veillance investigations, including standard sampling 

7 methods and laboratory procedures; 

8 (4) integrating new molecular diagnostic tools 

9 for parasites into web-based consultation services for 

10 parasitic infections to accelerate the identification of 

11 these food-borne infectious agents; 

12 (5) supporting research to develop and deploy 

13 new subtyping methods for salmonella, E. coli, 

14 campylobacter, and other pathogens, to increase the 

15 speed and accuracy of diagnoses; 

16 (6) determining minimum core competencies for 

17 public health laboratories, and developing self-eval18 uation and proficiency-testing tools for such labora19 tories; 

20 (7) facilitating regional public health laboratory 

21 partnerships to leverage resources, including equip22 ment and physical space, and increase surge capac23 ity; 

24 (8) providing technical assistance, which may 

25 include the detailing of officers and employees of the 


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1 Secretary, to State and local public health and food 

2 regulatory agencies; 

3 (9) partnering with the Food and Drug Admin4 istration to increase communication, coordination, 

5 and integration of food-borne illness surveillance and 

6 outbreak investigation activities; and 

7 (10) developing and periodically updating re8 sponse and interview procedures so that such proce9 dures are standardized and tested. 

10 (d) PROGRAM ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary shall 

11 carry out activities to support core food safety functions 

12 of State and local public health laboratories, including— 

13 (1) establishing fellowships, stipends, and schol14 arships to address critical workforce shortages; 

15 (2) training and coordination of State and local 

16 personnel; 

17 (3) establishing partnerships between private 

18 and public laboratories to facilitate sharing of posi19 tive enteric specimens and improve surge capacity; 

20 (4) strengthening capacity to participate in ex21 isting or new food-borne illness surveillance systems; 

22 and 

23 (5) the purchase and maintenance of data sys24 tems hardware and software and laboratory equip25 ment. 


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1 (e) PARTNERSHIPS.—Not later than 180 days after 

2 the date of enactment of the Improving Food-borne Illness 

3 Surveillance and Response Act of 2008, the Secretary 

4 shall establish a diverse working group of experts and 

5 stakeholders from Federal, State, and local food safety 

6 and health agencies, the food industry, consumer organi7 zations, and academia. Such working group shall provide 

8 the Secretary, through at least annual meetings of the 

9 working group and an annual public report, advice and 

10 recommendations on an ongoing and regular basis regard11 ing the improvement of food-borne illness surveillance and 

12 implementation of this section, including advice and rec13 ommendations on— 

14 (1) the priority needs of regulatory agencies, 

15 the food industry, and consumers for information 

16 and analysis on food-borne illness and its causes 

17 that can be used to prevent food-borne illness; 

18 (2) opportunities to improve the effectiveness of 

19 initiatives at the Federal, State, and local levels, in20 cluding coordination and integration of activities 

21 among Federal agencies, and between the Federal, 

22 State, and local levels of government; 

23 (3) improvement in the timeliness and depth of 

24 access by regulatory and health agencies, the food 

25 industry, academic researchers, and consumers to 


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1 food-borne illness surveillance data collected by gov2 ernment agencies at all levels, including data com3 piled by the Centers for Disease Control and Preven4 tion; 

5 (4) key barriers to improvement in food-borne 

6 illness surveillance and its utility for preventing 

7 food-borne illness at Federal, State, and local levels; 

8 and 

9 (5) specific actions to reduce barriers to im10 provement, implement the working group’s rec11 ommendations, and achieve the purposes of this sec12 tion, with measurable objectives and timelines, and 

13 identification of resource and staffing needs. 

14 SEC. 3. LEVERAGING AND ENHANCING STATE AND LOCAL 

15 ROLES. 

16 Title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

17 241 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘PART S—PROGRAMS RELATING TO FOOD 

20 ‘‘SEC. 399JJ. PLAN TO IMPROVE FOOD SAFETY CAPACITY 

21 AT THE STATE AND LOCAL LEVEL. 

22 ‘‘(a) GOALS.—The Secretary shall leverage and en23 hance the food safety capacity and roles of State and local 

24 agencies and integrate State and local agencies as fully 


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1 as possible into national food safety efforts, in order to 

2 achieve the following goals: 

3 ‘‘(1) Improve food-borne illness outbreak re4 sponse and containment. 

5 ‘‘(2) Improve the contribution of food-borne ill6 ness surveillance and investigation to the prevention 

7 of food-borne illness. 

8 ‘‘(3) Strengthen oversight of food safety at the 

9 retail level. 

10 ‘‘(4) Strengthen the capacity of State and local 

11 agencies to carry out inspections and enforce safety 

12 standards in food processing establishments, as part 

13 of a national strategy and plan to provide an ade14 quate level of inspection and achieve compliance with 

15 safety standards in such establishments. 

16 ‘‘(5) Make more effective use of the Nation’s 

17 combined food safety resources to reduce the burden 

18 of food-borne illness. 

19 ‘‘(b) SURVEY.—In preparation for development of the 

20 plan required by subsection (c), the Secretary shall, not 

21 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Im22 proving Food-borne Illness Surveillance and Response Act 

23 of 2008, complete a survey of State and local capacities, 

24 and needs for enhancement, with respect to— 


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1 ‘‘(1) staffing levels and expertise available to 

2 perform food safety functions; 

3 ‘‘(2) laboratory capacity to support surveillance, 

4 outbreak response, inspection, and enforcement ac5 tivities; 

6 ‘‘(3) information systems to support data man7 agement and sharing of food safety information 

8 among State and local agencies and with counter9 parts at the Federal level; 

10 ‘‘(4) legal authorities of State and local agen11 cies to support the roles of such agencies in a na12 tional food safety system; and 

13 ‘‘(5) organizational arrangements for managing 

14 and coordinating food safety activities. 

15 ‘‘(c) PLAN.—Taking into account the goals estab16 lished in subsection (a), results from the survey required 

17 in subsection (b), and consultations with State and local 

18 agencies and other food safety stakeholders, the Secretary 

19 shall, not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 

20 of the Improving Food-borne Illness Surveillance and Re21 sponse Act of 2008, develop, publish, and begin implemen22 tation of a plan that includes the following elements: 

23 ‘‘(1) Criteria for assessing the adequacy of 

24 State and local capacity to perform food safety func25 tions as part of a national food safety system. 


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1 ‘‘(2) Priorities for enhancing the capacity of 

2 State and local agencies. 

3 ‘‘(3) Action plans for meeting the highest pri4 ority capacity needs, including budget requirements 

5 and financing plans that take into account Federal, 

6 State, and local resources. 

7 ‘‘(4) Improved coordination and information 

8 flow among Federal, State, and local agencies to 

9 strengthen food-borne illness surveillance, outbreak 

10 response, and investigation and to ensure that agen11 cies at all levels have the information on origins and 

12 causes of food-borne illness that such agencies need 

13 to plan preventive measures. 

14 ‘‘(5) Integration of the inspection and compli15 ance programs in food processing establishments of 

16 the Food and Drug Administration and State and 

17 local agencies, including— 

18 ‘‘(A) joint planning and priority setting to 

19 ensure that the collective effort has the greatest 

20 possible impact on achieving compliance with 

21 food safety standards and reducing food-borne 

22 illness; 

23 ‘‘(B) elimination of barriers to the free 

24 flow of information among the Food and Drug 

25 Administration and State and local agencies 


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1 with respect to inspection and compliance pro2 grams and integration of State and Federal in3 spection and laboratory data systems; 

4 ‘‘(C) steps to expand, and ensure the vigor 

5 and consistency of, State inspection of proc6 essing establishments under contract to the 

7 Food and Drug Administration; and 

8 ‘‘(D) reliance by the Food and Drug Ad9 ministration on State inspection and food sam10 ple analyses in Federal enforcement activities. 

11 ‘‘(d) FOOD SAFETY CAPACITY BUILDING GRANTS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make 

13 grants to State and local agencies to enhance State 

14 and local food safety capacity and programs and 

15 support achievement of the goals established in sub16 section (a). In awarding such grants, the Secretary 

17 shall take into account the criteria and priorities es18 tablished by the Secretary under subsection (c). 

19 ‘‘(2) FUNDING.—There are authorized to be ap20 propriated to carry out paragraph (1), $25,000,000 

21 for each of the fiscal years 2010, 2011, and 2012. 

22 ‘‘(e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 

23 after the date of enactment of the Improving Food-borne 

24 Illness Surveillance and Response Act of 2008, and on an 


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1 annual basis thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to Con2 gress a report that describes— 

3 ‘‘(1) progress made in implementing this sec4 tion, including any obstacles to such implementation; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(2) any legislative recommendations or addi7 tional resources needed for full implementation.’’. 

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