Foodborne Illness Reduction Act of 2011

Bill: 112-s-1529
Sponsor: Sen. Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY]
Introduced: 2011-09-08 in the Senate
Policy area: Agriculture and Food
Subjects: Agricultural research
Animal and plant health
Civil actions and liability
Congressional oversight
Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation
Food industry and services
Food supply, safety, and labeling
Government information and archives
Government studies and investigations
Health information and medical records
Health promotion and preventive care
Livestock
Meat
Trade restrictions
Worker safety and health

Summary:
action_date: 2011-09-08
text: 
Foodborne Illness Reduction Act of 2011 - Amends the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act, and the Egg Products Inspection Act (the Acts) to include in the definition of &quot;adulterated&quot; a product containing an emerging pathogen associated with actual or potential human illnesses or death, including pathogens such as antibiotic-resistant strains of Salmonella or enterohemorrhagic (EHEC) Shiga toxin-producing serotypes of Escherichia coli (E. coli).
 
Amends the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to: (1) define specified food safety terms, and (2) set forth civil penalties for food safety law violations.
 
Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to: (1) identify significant foodborne disease pathogens, (2) determine levels of food product contamination, (3) establish public health goals to reduce foodborne illness, (4) prescribe pathogen reduction performance standards and implement a sampling program to determine food establishment compliance, (5) establish an accredited meat and meat food product testing program, and (6) implement adulterated food tracing protocols. 
 
 Requires certain food establishments to sample for the presence of identified pathogens at any production or processing point.
 
Permits banning food imports from countries refusing inspections by the Secretary.
 
Sets forth notice and recall provisions.
 
Defines a &quot;foodborne illness outbreak&quot; as the occurrence of two or more cases of a similar illness resulting from the ingestion of a certain food.
 
Requires the Secretary to: (1) enhance foodborne illness surveillance systems through the coordination and integration of such systems, the development of improved epidemiological tools, and the provision of timely public information; (2) establish guidelines for a system to take and analyze food samples; (3) establish a national public education program on food safety; and (4) conduct specified research concerning food safety.
 
Establishes penalties under the Acts for the introduction into commerce of unsafe or misbranded products of up to $100,000, 20 years' imprisonment, or both.
 
Requires studies concerning: (1) the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point-based Inspection Models Project, and (2) worker safety in the meat packing and poultry processing industry, including the relationship between line speed and worker safety.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-09-08
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
action_date: 2011-09-08
text: Introduced in Senate