Letter to Senate Committee.

September 3, 2003

The Honorable Thad Cochran, Chair

Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry

Room SR-328A

Russell Senate Office Building 

Washington, DC. 20510-6000

RE: S. 506, "Safe School Food Act of 2003"

Dear Senator Cochran:

The National Environmental Health Association supports S. 506, "Safe School Food Act of 2003", however, we have several concerns that need to be addressed to strengthen and enhance this legislation and I offer the assistance of NEHA in making these improvements.

NEHA, with a national membership of 5000, represents 25,000+ environmental health professionals nationwide. Many of these professionals work in environmental health programs within local health departments and are directly responsible for food safety in schools in their communities.

There are four areas of improvement proposed in this legislation, Improving Inspections, Purchasing Safe Food, Planning and Serving Safe Meals and Providing Notice and Recalling Unsafe Food. While USDA is the federal agency responsible for food safety, each of these areas of improvement should involve local health departments who already provide food safety education, training, and inspection services to their local communities. We suggest that this legislation provide the mandate and resources for USDA to establish partnerships with these local health departments to conduct these activities.

Effective education about planning and serving safe meals can be conducted by environmental health programs within local health departments. The best way to increase the frequency of cafeteria inspections and make those inspections available to the public is through already established environmental health programs within local health departments.

Providing notice and recalling unsafe food is best conducted at the local level. This legislation should require USDA to establish a system and procedures to notify the environmental health director within each local health department about food recalls. These environmental health professionals can assure that schools receive the federal recall notices and these professionals can provide local assistance when questions arise. This procedure makes for a more effective and successful recall.

We also suggest the food safety coordinator in each state be located in the environmental health program of the regulatory agency that conducts cafeteria inspections, normally, the state health department. This will assure that food safety planning and information sharing is most effective within each states environmental health delivery system.

This legislation will also require other responsibilities and capacity building. Assurances that funding will be available to carry out these responsibilities should be included in the legislation.

The National Environmental Health Association supports this legislation with these recommended changes. NEHA offers to be of assistance in amending the legislation to assure that state and local jurisdictions have the funding needed to build capacity to deliver these needed improvements.

Please do not hesitate to contact the NEHA Executive Director Nelson Fabian or myself to discuss our support with these suggested revisions.

Sincerely,

Douglas J. Ebelherr, President

National Environmental Health Association

cc: Rep. John Boehner, Chairman

Committee on Education and the Workforce