Safe Food Act of 2015
A BILL
To establish the Food Safety Administration to protect the public health by preventing foodborne illness, ensuring the safety of food, improving research on contaminants leading to foodborne illness, and improving security of food from intentional contamination, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Findings; purposes
Findings— Congress finds that—
the safety of the food supply of the United States is vital to the public health, to public confidence in the food supply, and to the success of the food sector of the Nation’s economy;
lapses in the protection of the food supply and loss of public confidence in food safety are damaging to consumers and the food industry, and place a burden on interstate commerce;
the safety and security of the food supply requires an integrated, systemwide approach to preventing foodborne illness, a thorough and broad-based approach to basic and applied research, and intensive, effective, and efficient management of the Nation’s food safety program;
the task of preserving the safety of the food supply of the United States faces tremendous pressures with regard to—
emerging pathogens and other contaminants and the ability to detect all forms of contamination;
an aging and immune-compromised population, with a growing number of people at high risk for foodborne illnesses, including infants and children;
a concern regarding food fraud for economic gain, especially with mislabeling and intentionally misleading claims;
an increasing volume of imported food, without adequate monitoring and inspection; and
maintenance of rigorous inspection of the domestic food processing and food service industries;
Federal food safety standard setting, inspection, enforcement, and research efforts should be based on the best available science and public health considerations and food safety resources should be systematically deployed in ways that most effectively prevent foodborne illness;
the Federal food safety system is fragmented, with at least 15 Federal agencies sharing responsibility for food safety, and operates under laws that do not reflect current conditions in the food system or current scientific knowledge about the cause and prevention of foodborne illness;
the fragmented Federal food safety system and outdated laws preclude an integrated, systemwide approach to preventing foodborne illness, to the effective and efficient operation of the Nation’s food safety program, and to the most beneficial deployment of food safety resources;
the National Academy of Sciences recommended in the report “Ensuring Safe Food from Production to Consumption” that Congress establish by statute a unified and central framework for managing Federal food safety programs, and recommended modifying Federal statutes so that inspection, enforcement, and research efforts are based on scientifically supportable assessments of risks to public health; and
the lack of a single focal point for food safety leadership in the United States undercuts the ability of the United States to exert food safety leadership internationally, which is detrimental to the public health and the international trade interests of the United States.
Purposes— The purposes of this Act are—
to establish a single agency to be known as the “Food Safety Administration” to—
regulate food safety and related labeling to strengthen the protection of the public health;
ensure that food facilities fulfill their responsibility to produce food in a manner that protects the public health of all people in the United States;
lead an integrated, systemwide approach to food safety and to make more effective and efficient use of resources to prevent foodborne illness;
provide a single focal point for food safety leadership, both nationally and internationally; and
provide an integrated food safety research capability, utilizing internally generated, scientifically and statistically valid studies, in cooperation with academic institutions and other scientific entities of the Federal and State governments, to achieve the continuous improvement of research on foodborne illness and contaminants;
to transfer to the Food Safety Administration the food safety, labeling, inspection, and enforcement functions that, as of the day before the effective date of this Act, are performed by other Federal agencies; and
to modernize and strengthen the Federal food safety laws to achieve more effective application and efficient management of the laws for the protection and improvement of public health.
Sec. 3 Definitions
In this Act:
Administration— The term Administration means the Food Safety Administration established under section 101(a)(1).
Administrator— The term Administrator means the Administrator of Food Safety appointed under section 101(a)(3).
Adulterated—
In general— The term adulterated has the meaning given such term in—
section 402 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 342) for food regulated under such Act;
section 1(m) of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 601(m)) for food regulated under such Act;
section 4(g) of the Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 453(g)) for food regulated under such Act; and
section 4(a) of the Egg Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 1033(a)) for food regulated under such Act.
Inclusion— In applying the definitions cited in subparagraph (A), poisonous or deleterious substances in food shall be treated as an added substance if the poisonous or deleterious substances are known to cause serious illness or death in persons, including in sensitive populations.
Agency— The term agency has the meaning given that term in section 551 of title 5, United States Code.
Category 1 food facility— The term category 1 food facility means a facility that slaughters animals for food.
Category 2 food facility— The term category 2 food facility means a facility that processes—
raw meat, poultry, or seafood in a manner that may reduce but is not validated to destroy contaminants; or
other products that the Administrator determines by regulation to be at high risk of contamination.
Category 3 food facility— The term category 3 food facility means a facility—
that processes meat, poultry, or seafood, or other products that the Administrator determines by regulation to be at high risk of contamination; and
whose processes include one or more steps validated to destroy contaminants.
Category 4 food facility— The term category 4 food facility means a facility that processes food but is not a category 1, 2, or 3 food facility.
Category 5 food facility— The term category 5 food facility means a facility that stores, holds, or transports food prior to delivery for retail sale.
Contaminant— The term contaminant includes biological, chemical, physical, or radiological hazards, natural toxins, pesticides, drug residues, decomposition, parasites, allergens, and unapproved food or color additives.
Contamination— The term contamination refers to a presence of a contaminant in food, which may occur naturally or be introduced into a food.
Feed facility— The term feed facility means a domestic or foreign feed manufacturer, processor, packer, warehouse, or other facility that—
if operating in the United States, manufactures, slaughters, processes, or holds animal feed or feed ingredients; or
if operating elsewhere, manufactures, slaughters, processes, or holds animal feed or feed ingredients intended for consumption in the United States.
Food—
In general— The term food means a product intended to be used for food or drink for a human or an animal.
Inclusions— The term food includes any product (including a meat food product, as defined in section 1(j) of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 601(j))), capable for use as human and animal food that is made in whole or in part from any animal, including cattle, sheep, swine, goat, or poultry (as defined in section 4 of the Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 453)), and animal feed.
Food facility—
In general— The term food facility means a domestic or foreign food manufacturer, slaughterhouse, processor, packer, warehouse, or other facility that—
if operating in the United States, manufactures, slaughters, processes, or holds food or food ingredients; or
if operating outside the United States, manufactures, slaughters, processes, or holds food intended for consumption in the United States.
Exclusions— For the purposes of registration, the term food facility does not include—
a farm, restaurant, other retail food establishment, nonprofit food establishment in which food is prepared for or served directly to the consumer; or
a fishing vessel (other than a fishing vessel engaged in processing, as that term is defined in section 123.3(k) of title 21, Code of Federal Regulations).
Food production establishment— The term food production establishment means any farm, ranch, orchard, vineyard, aquaculture facility, or confined animal-feeding operation.
Food safety law— The term food safety law means—
the provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) related to and requiring the safety, labeling, and inspection of food, infant formulas, food additives, pesticide residues, and other substances present in food under that Act;
the provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) and of any other Act that are administered by the Center for Veterinary Medicine of the Food and Drug Administration;
the Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 451 et seq.);
the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 601 et seq.);
the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (Public Law 111–353);
the Egg Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 1031 et seq.);
the Sanitary Food Transportation Act of 1990 (49 U.S.C. App. 2801 et seq.);
chapter 57 of title 49, United States Code;
Public Law 85–765 (commonly known as the “Humane Methods of Slaughter Act of 1958”) (7 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.);
the provisions of this Act; and
such other provisions of law related to and requiring food safety, labeling, inspection, and enforcement as the President designates by Executive order as appropriate to include within the jurisdiction of the Administration.
Interstate commerce— The term interstate commerce has the meaning given that term in section 201(b) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 321(b)).
Misbranded— The term misbranded has the meaning given to it in—
section 403 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 343) for food regulated under such Act;
section 1(n) of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 601(n)) for food regulated under such Act;
section 4(h) of the Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 453(h)) for food regulated under such Act; and
section 4(l) of the Egg Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 1033(l)) for food regulated under such Act.
Process— The term process or processing means the commercial slaughter, packing, preparation, or manufacture of food.
Safe— The term safe refers to human and animal health.
State— The term State means—
a State;
the District of Columbia;
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; and
any other territory or possession of the United States.
Validation— The term validation means the act of obtaining evidence that the process control measure or measures selected to control a contaminant in food is capable of effectively and consistently controlling the contaminant.
Statistically valid— The term statistically valid means evaluated and conducted under standards set by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.