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Farmers, Ranchers Fighting Back Against FDA Tyranny Over Animal
Farms
David Gutierrez
NaturalNews
Monday, Nov 16th, 2009
A bill that would grant the FDA expanded authority
to inspect farms has come under fire from ranchers and farmers
concerned about increased government interference in their operations.
In response to a recent series of food-borne illness outbreaks,
a bill has been approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee
that would allocate more money and authority to the FDA to fulfill
its current food safety duties. Although technically the bill
would not expand the FDA's authority to foods currently supervised
by the Department of Agriculture (USDA) – meat, poultry
and some egg products – many farmers and their advocates
are concerned that the language of the bill is too vague to
ensure against this.
"Live animals are not 'food' until the point of processing,
which is why this bill needs to clarify that the FDA does not
have regulatory authority on our farms, ranches and feedlots,"
said Sam Ives of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.
Even though the USDA has been involved in several recent recalls
of beef products, its inspection procedures are usually considered
stricter than the FDA's, and the agency's inspection program
is also better funded. This has spared the USDA the criticism
the FDA has faced after recent recalls of peanut butter, hot
peppers and spinach.
FDA Senior Adviser on Food Safety Mike Taylor said that the
agency already inspects some farms as part of its duties to
supervise egg, vegetable and animal feed production. He noted
that the FDA and the USDA have also cooperated in the past,
such as on the issue of mad cow disease, and promised that the
law will not change any agency's jurisdiction. Not everyone
was reassured, however.
"We are a little skeptical of FDA," said Rep. Collin
Peterson, Chair of the House Agricultural Committee. "We
are very concerned about them getting involved in grain farms,
livestock farms."
Sources for this story include: online.wsj.com.
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