WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), members of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, are joining 18 of their colleagues in raising strong concerns about the plan to reorganize the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“We write with serious concern regarding the announced reorganization of the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS),” wrote the Senators. “Rather than strengthening the agency’s effectiveness, this reorganization poses a risk to FSIS’s core mission of protecting public health and ensuring the safety of our nation’s food supply.”
“Losses in staff and institutional expertise as a result of this relocation could delay the identification and containment of outbreaks involving pathogens such as Salmonella, E. coli, or Listeria, allowing contaminated products to remain in commerce longer and increasing illnesses nationwide,” the Senators continued. “Reduced coordination amongst FSIS and other food safety and public health agencies like the Food and Drug Administration, and state partners could also slow traceback investigations and public communication during multistate outbreaks, when rapid response is critical to prevent additional illnesses. Instead of moving its employees across the country, FSIS should be focused on maintaining food safety. Overall, this reorganization threatens to undermine FSIS’s effectiveness and weakens an agency that American consumers rely on every day.”
Along with Slotkin and Klobuchar, the letter was signed by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Dick Durbin (D-IL), John Fetterman (D-PA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Patty Murray (D-WA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Tina Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Peter Welch (D-VT), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
The full letter is available here and below.
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