Consumer Federation of America enthusiastically supports the Safe Food Act of 2004, which Senator Durbin and Congresswoman DeLauro are introducing today.

CFA has long advocated for a single food safety agency to address the tangled web that has become our nation's food safety system. Currently, 12 federal agencies administer 35 food safety laws across the country, the USDA has conflicting missions of promoting meat while at the same time monitoring its safety, and the FDA doesn't have nearly enough resources to monitor all the foods under its watch. USDA Secretary Ann Veneman said in 2003 that "we are working under a Meat Inspection Act that pre-dates the Model T." An overhaul of this outdated, fragmented system is well past due

The Safe Food Act of 2004 will establish a single agency responsible for ensuring the safety of the nation's food supply. Such an agency would be focused on one thing - making sure that the food we eat is as safe as possible. This comprehensive bill also provides details on how the Food Safety Administration would be formed and the activities in which it would engage.

This bill is an important step forward in modernizing and updating our current food safety system. CFA is happy to support it.