II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3114 

To improve communication to consumers when there is a food recall. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 15, 2010 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

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

A BILL 

To improve communication to consumers when there is a 

food recall. 

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 ‘‘Consumer Recall Noti5 fication Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. IMPROVING COMMUNICATION TO THE PUBLIC RE7 GARDING CLASS I FOOD RECALLS. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) CLASS I RECALL.—The term ‘‘Class I re10 call’’ refers to a food recall described in section 

11 7.3(m)(1) of title 21, Code of Federal Regulations. 


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1 (2) FACILITY.—The term ‘‘facility’’ has the 

2 meaning given that term in section 415 of the Fed3 eral Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 

4 350d). 

5 (b) COMMUNICATION OF INFORMATION.—The Sec6 retary of Health and Human Services, acting through the 

7 Commissioner of Food and Drugs and in consultation with 

8 the Secretary of Agriculture, shall improve communication 

9 between State entities, State and local health depart10 ments, and facilities in order to provide consumers with 

11 more, and timely, notification of Class I recalls by— 

12 (1) developing and distributing national and re13 gional advisories concerning Class I recalls; 

14 (2) developing standardized formats for such 

15 advisories, in written and broadcast form, to be used 

16 by Federal, State, and local health or food safety 

17 agencies; and 

18 (3) providing frontline health professionals, 

19 such as emergency department practitioners, pedia20 tricians, and family practitioners, with information 

21 about symptoms to document and tests that should 

22 be performed to diagnose foodborne illness in rela23 tion to specific regional outbreaks that may occur as 

24 a result of an adulterated product. 

25 (c) DISTRIBUTION OF INFORMATION.— 


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1 (1) REQUIREMENT TO NOTIFY RETAILERS AND

2 RESTAURANTS.—A facility that is subject to a Class 

3 I recall or a supplier that supplied products subject 

4 to such a recall shall notify applicable retail estab5 lishments and restaurants within 24 hours of the 

6 public announcement of such recall. 

7 (2) INFORMATION.—In order to distribute in8 formation as necessary to carry out this Act, the 

9 Commissioner of Food and Drugs may, notwith10 standing any other provision of law— 

11 (A) share commercial or financial informa12 tion and lists of facilities registered with such 

13 Commissioner, with Federal, State, local, and 

14 foreign agencies, provided such agencies assure 

15 confidentially of the information; 

16 (B) publish on the Internet website of the 

17 Food and Drug Administration a list of retail 

18 establishments, restaurants, and locations that 

19 sell or have sold products that are subject to a 

20 Class I recall; and 

21 (C) require on-site notification of a recalled 

22 product by posting notification in the freezer 

23 case or shelving unit in the retail establishment 

24 where the product is sold. 


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1 (3) ENFORCEMENT.—A facility that has not 

2 provided a notification as described under paragraph 

3 (1) shall be liable to the United States for a civil 

4 penalty in an amount of $1,000 per day, per notifi5 cation of each level of distribution, that has not been 

6 made within 24 hours of the public announcement of 

7 the applicable Class I recall. Paragraphs (5), (6), (7) 

8 of section 303(f) of the Federal Food, Drug, and 

9 Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 333(f)) shall apply to a 

10 violation described in the preceding sentence in the 

11 same manner as such paragraphs apply to a viola12 tion of paragraph (1) of such section 303(f). 

13 (d) NOTIFICATION TO CONSUMERS BY RETAIL ES14 TABLISHMENTS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Retail establishments that 

16 use a customer card system to track customer pur17 chases or demographics shall use such tracking in18 formation in the event of a Class I recall to notify 

19 those customers that purchased a recalled product of 

20 the dangers of eating such product. Customers shall 

21 be notified by phone using the phone number the 

22 customer used to apply for the card and a letter 

23 mailed to the address the customer used to apply for 

24 the card. 


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1 (2) ENFORCEMENT.—A retail establishment 

2 that fails to comply with paragraph (1) shall be lia3 ble to the United States for a civil penalty in an 

4 amount of $100 per applicable customer for which 

5 a notification of such recall has not been attempted. 

6 Paragraphs (5), (6), (7) of section 303(f) of the 

7 Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 

8 333(f)) shall apply to a violation described in the 

9 preceding sentence in the same manner as such 

10 paragraphs apply to a violation of paragraph (1) of 

11 such section 303(f). 

Æ 


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