Is Sen. Dianne Feinstein Killing Food Safety Legislation?

Update 12/21/10: It took more than a year-and-a-half of pushing, but on December 21, 2010, Congress finally passed the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510). The move came after more than 1,800 Change.org members signed our petition asking Congress to pass the food safety reform bill. You can read more about this victory here.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) needs some serious overhauling. We're talking Heidi Montag-plastic-surgery-level modification here. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), food-borne pathogens cause 76 million illnesses and 5,000 deaths in America every year. Considering the fact that the FDA oversees about 80 percent of the country's food supply, obviously a whole lot of bacteria are slipping through the cracks and making their way into Americans' bellies.

A piece of legislation before Congress, the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, aims to give the FDA more power to prevent food-borne illnesses by recalling tainted food and tracing outbreaks. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) aims to bolster the bill even more by including a ban on bisphenol-A (BPA), a chemical found in food packaging. But in her effort to protect consumer health, she just might squash the legislation before it gets a fair shake.

BPA is a hormone-disrupting chemical found in virtually all canned goods, from veggies to ravioli to organic soups. Glass jar lids, reusable plastic water bottles, and baby bottles also contain the chemical. Ever since Feinstein unveiled her desire to include a BPA ban in the Food Safety Modernization Act, chemical and food manufacturing execs have been up in arms. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, 30 industry groups are rallying against Feinstein's BPA ban recommendation, threatening to entirely kill support for the legislation.

And while it's so important from a food safety standpoint for this bill to pass, I don't blame Feinstein for trying to add in the controversial BPA ban. BPA is downright scary. I mean the topic truly keeps me up nights. The chemical mimics the hormone estrogen, so it can interfere with normal development and induce earlier onset of puberty in girls. In animal studies, the chemical's been linked to cancers, diabetes, changes in metabolism, and behavioral abnormalities. And this is a substance so ubiquitous in our food items it's found in the blood of 93 percent of all Americans. No wonder Feinstein and environmental and public health groups want it off grocery store shelves.

And while industry execs say there's no safe alternative to BPA, that's just not true. Eden Organic crafted BPA-free cans for its organic beans. Under Feinstein's suggested ban, manufacturers would get one year to switch over to BPA-free food packaging. It would take a huge effort from the food industry to totally change the way they're doing things in only one year. But isn't guaranteeing consumer safety worth that kind of investment?

I support Feinstein's addition of the BPA ban to the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. True, it might cost the bill some supporters. But if the goal of this legislation is to better protect consumers' health, eliminating a potentially toxic substance that's prevalent throughout America's food supply seems like a no-brainer.

Photo Credit: United States Congress via Wikimedia Commons