I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3526
To amend the Egg Products Inspection Act to improve the safety of shell
eggs.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 24, 2000
Mr. PALLONE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Agriculture
A BILL
To amend the Egg Products Inspection Act to improve the
safety of shell eggs.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Egg Safety Act of
2000’’.
SEC. 2. EGG SAFETY IMPROVEMENT.
Section 5 of the Egg Products Inspection Act (21
U.S.C. 1034) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(f) EGG SAFETY IMPROVEMENT.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To ensure the protection of
public health, the Secretary shall promulgate regula-
tions for the inspection of eggs from poultry pro-
ducers with flocks of at least 3,000 hens at each
stage in the egg production process, from the farm
to the retail level.
‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The regulations de-
scribed in paragraph (1) shall—
‘‘(A) require that any inspection of eggs
(including inspections at official plants) be con-
ducted at a frequency so as to achieve a contin-
uous monitoring and verification of performance
standards;
‘‘(B) require that inspections described in
paragraph (1) include the implementation,
through the Food Safety and Inspection Serv-
ice, of hazard analysis and critical control
point-based programs for egg safety;
‘‘(C) require labeling on egg cartons (in-
cluding cartons of eggs sold for institutional or
food service industry use)—
‘‘(i) to warn ultimate consumers of
the risk of illness associated with con-
suming raw or undercooked eggs; and
‘‘(ii) to provide instructions on how to
maintain egg safety;
‘‘(D) require uniform expiration dating of
all eggs, including the requirements that—
‘‘(i) no eggs packed for the ultimate
consumer shall, at the time of packing, be
older than 21 days from the date of lay;
and
‘‘(ii) eggs packed for retail sale shall
carry an expiration date or a sell by date
that is not later than 30 days after the
date on which the eggs were packed;
‘‘(E) provide that eggs returned to the
packer from grocery stores or other retail estab-
lishments, 
store 
warehouses, 
and 
other
entities—
‘‘(i) shall not be repackaged as shell
eggs intended for human consumption; but
‘‘(ii) may be diverted for additional
processing as pasteurized egg products;
‘‘(F) provide for a new expiration date for
pasteurized shell eggs, as determined by the
Secretary; and
‘‘(G) require the testing of flocks for, and
the pasteurization of all eggs from flocks that
test positive for, the presence of Salmonella
enteritidis.
‘‘(3) LABELING.—
‘‘(A) CONTAMINATION
WARNING.—Label-
ing requirements described in paragraph (2)(C)
may not apply to eggs that are pasteurized or
treated with other technology approved by the
Secretary to kill pathogens that could contami-
nate the contents of the egg, as determined by
the Secretary.
‘‘(B) REFRIGERATION.—Labeling require-
ments described in subparagraphs (C) and (D)
of paragraph (2) shall be in addition to the re-
quirement in effect on the date of enactment of
this subsection that all eggs be labeled with a
notice that the eggs should be kept refrigerated.
‘‘(4) SALMONELLA ENTERITIDIS TESTING PRO-
GRAM.—The Food Safety and Inspection Service
may trace or otherwise determine the origin of pro-
duction of eggs contaminated with Salmonella
enteritidis.
‘‘(5) NO
EFFECT
ON
OTHER
AUTHORITY.—
Nothing in this subsection affects the authority of
the Secretary—
‘‘(A) to regulate and inspect eggs under
any other provision of this Act or any other
law; or
‘‘(B) to conduct a voluntary egg grading
program under the Agricultural Marketing Act
of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1621 et seq.).’’.
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