Is Capitol Hill Listening?
April 5, 2001 The subject of food safety continues to fill the halls of Capitol Hill. One quick search of the Internet today brought up these headlines: • Frankenfoods, Antibiotics, & Mad Cow America’s Food Safety Crisis Intensifies • Bush Administration Receives Criticism for Rolling Back Regulations on Arsenic Levels in Drinking Water • USA Government Falls Short on Testing for Mad Cow Is This A Coverup? • U.S. to Keep Salmonella Testing for School Meat: “Reading, Writing and… Irradiation?” • etc., etc. This Wednesday, the USDA announced plans to eliminate salmonella screening for ground beef bound for school lunches. Thursday, the agency backed off. The announcement that testing will continue was made after Democrats and consumer advocacy groups criticized the proposal as another example of our current administration trying to relax safety standards. “First, it’s arsenic in water. Now it’s salmonella in school lunches. Where will this end?” asked Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, Wedn
