PREPARED REMARKS OF SECRETARY DAN GLICKMAN JOINT PUBLIC AFFAIRS ASSEMBLY WASHINGTON, D.C. -- MARCH 17, 1998 Thank you, Jack. I'd like to also say hello to Tim Hammonds and Tom Zaucha. Thank you for inviting me today. I want to commend you for bringing all three groups together. As a former Secretary of Agriculture, I'm sure Jack knows it makes my job easier: one speech instead of three. I guess I should say, Top o the mornin' to ya.' It certainly is a bright new morning for America. For the first time since Lyndon Johnson was in the White House, a President has submitted a balanced budget to Congress. Under President Clinton's leadership, we are reaping the benefits of the strongest economy in a generation -- low unemployment, steady growth, low inflation, low interest rates, millions of new jobs. We are now looking at the first budget surplus since the 1960's, and this Administration is not content to sit on its laurels. We are working hard to build on our healthy economic progress, and we are making long-term commitments to the strength of our nation: improving education and child care, protecting the environment while we grow our economy, enhancing health care and shoring up social security. We're also proposing to restore food stamp benefits to legal immigrants. This is a top policy priority for President Clinton, as I know it is for many of you, too. These are all issues that American people care passionately about. Another one is food safety. Wherever I go, one of the things uppermost in people's minds is food safety. They come up to me and ask: How do I cook my hamburger right? Do you know what NPR's top 3 stories of 1997 were? One: Princess Diana. Two: Iraq's chemical weapons. Three: the Hudson Beef recall. This is an issue that you have to deal with every day, that is at the heart of your business. You know how important consumer confidence in safe food is to your bottom line. You play a vital role in ensuring the safety of the nation's food supply. Our food supply is the safest in the world. But it is not invincible. An ever expanding global economy means more products from more sources. World food demands are growing at an unprecedented rate, putting more pressure on food producers. People are leading a faster paced lifestyle, which means eating out more and speedy home cooking. Yes, we have a safe, reliable and abundant food supply -- the envy of the world -- but assuring the safety of the U.S. food supply has become far more complex, so the challenges in improving our food safety standards are that much greater. Legend has it that St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland and into the sea with a sermon on a mountain. I'd like nothing better than to give a speech that makes all the pathogens in our food disappear. I guess if I went on long enough, some might say that's a possibility. But, as we all know, there is no magic bullet that can make all of our food safety concerns vanish, and until we find one, protecting the safety of our food requires that everyone, at every step of the way, make a serious commitment to food safety. That's the thinking behind the President's Food Safety Initiative: we must secure safety at each point from farm to table. This Administration's 1999 budget proposes a $101 million increase in funding for our initiative encompassing everything from food safety education campaigns to enhanced inspections to cutting-edge research that is vital to understanding the elusive nature of food-borne pathogens. We often hear people grouse about government getting out of people's way. Not when it comes to food safety. That's when folks want a strong government fulfilling one of its most basic functions -- protecting people in ways they cannot protect themselves. Take meat and poultry inspections. For most of this century, USDA inspectors stood on production lines looking for contamination. Today, we know that some of the most dangerous threats in our food are invisible to the naked eye. In January, we started our new HACCP program that puts science into meat and poultry inspections. You have been very supportive of HACCP, and I want to thank you for that. We're working with FDA on a pilot program to improve safe handling for fresh cut produce. It's based on HACCP principles and many of your members have worked closely with us to get out the kinks and get it going in more places, and I'm very grateful for your efforts. We need new tools to make the new system work more effectively. Most companies quickly respond to inspectors' warnings about safety gaps. Unfortunately, a few bad actors drag their feet, knowing that USDA is powerless to fine them for putting people at risk. We need that power to act quickly and decisively to get their attention, and correct problems before people become sick or worse. Legislation currently before Congress would provide USDA authority to levee fines. It's important that companies be required to notify us as soon as they know there may be unsafe food in the marketplace. The sooner we are notified, the sooner we can help to ensure that no unsafe food reaches consumers. The Food Safety Enforcement Enhancement Act also allows us to issue a mandatory recall of unsafe food; but only if involved companies refuse a voluntary recall or unacceptably delay it. Most folks are shocked to learn that USDA does not have these powers. After all, if we were talking about unsafe toys, the Consumer Product Safety Commission could order a recall and issue a fine. We should not treat unsafe food any differently. I know these recalls can be a great burden to your part of the food industry in particular. After all you are the first place the consumer goes to return the product, or with questions about a product. We need to be sure that such programs are uniformly effective, and that they protect consumers as quickly as possible. One of the most important tools we have in our efforts to keep food safe is education. If each one of us knows the risks, and knows what to do and how to do it, then everyone of us can contribute to safe food -- from the growers to the processors, from the grocers to the consumers -- every link in the chain is important. The Partnership for Food Safety Education developed "Fight Bac", as in bac-teria, a campaign that educates the public on the four key principles of safe food preparation -- frequent washing, proper cooking temperatures, preventing cross-contamination and prompt refrigeration. On behalf of all the key players, I want to thank FMI for their leadership role in putting together the partnership. Many of you have encouraged consumer food safety awareness and embraced "Fight Bac" in your stores. You've supported public service announcements, and circulated information to your customers. I'd like to thank you for your efforts and encourage all of you to do even more to educate the public. Why not put "Fight Bac" principles on grocery bags? This is an issue people care about. We get calls all the time to our food safety hotline. People want to know how to do their part. I think they'd appreciate getting useful information at the meat counter or the produce section. Consumers are the last line of defense, and we should do our part to empower them with the knowledge that will help keep them safe. All of you in this room are on, or close to, the front lines in dealing with consumers. You're getting the same clear signals that I am. They want safe food. They want reliability and consistency. They want to know that wherever they shop for food -- at the corner grocer, in a supermarket, in a specialty store -- that food meets the same high standard of safety. Lately, food safety is something I've been talking to a lot of different folks about -- scientists, consumers, local governments, meat producers -- and no matter who I speak to, I have challenged every one of them to do their part in food safety. That's why I want to urge every one of you to support and follow the Food Code. The Food Code is a uniform national standard that some states have adopted into law and others are considering. It's a set of science-based standards and practices designed to ensure safe food handling, shipping, storing and prepping at the wholesale and retail level. Ensuring the same set of standards at every level in the food chain, will ensure a consistent level of safety and quality. My challenge to you is, why wait for the states? Lately we've been seeing safe food standards driven as much by consumer demand as by government regulation. If you follow tough safety standards, and your customers know about it, it's going to be good for your bottom line. I recently heard of a packer who was told by a retailer about quality control and shelf-life problems with his product. Puzzled by this, since he had high standards, the packer had experts visit the retailer who, it turns out, was not storing or handling the product appropriately. By following the Food Code, situations like this can be prevented. I also want to ask you to challenge each other. Just as consumers make safe food demands on you, you are also highly valued customers and can drive high food safety standards back up the commercial food chain. We've seen this in the fast-food industry. One of the leaders there tested the safety and quality of the product it received from each supplier. Then, they made three lists. The A's passed muster. The company worked with the B's to turn them into A's. And, the C's were out. The fast food chain stopped buying from them. That kind of leadership serves your customers well, and sends a powerful signal that strong food safety standards at each level is good business. Today, I'm challenging you to challenge the businesses you work with to measure up to your A list, and be sure to let your customers know about your high standards because safe food sells. In addition to food safety, one of the most fertile areas where we can work together is in feeding the hungry. It starts with a strong federal safety net, but even that is not enough to reach everyone who needs help. Even in this country, 12 million households face hunger at some time during the year. At the same time, nearly a third of our food winds up going to waste. A lot of us today will sit down to a great meal of corned beef and cabbage -- others are not so fortunate. Many of you have played a tremendous role in helping to feed the hungry by recovering food that would have been thrown away and donating it to organizations that feed the hungry. Food recovery is one of my highest priorities and I appreciate your efforts. But I want to take this opportunity to ask you to do more. It's a message that I carry with me wherever I go, and will continue to carry as long as there remains one hungry child in this country. I'd like you to encourage others in your business to donate regularly, and I'd like you to help publicize our gleaning hotline 1-800-GLEAN IT. USDA's going to do more to help you help the hungry. In this year's budget, we've proposed $20 million to help food recovery efforts. As more folks get involved, we need to keep pace by helping non-profit organizations expand the infrastructure by improving such critical areas as reliable transportation and refrigerated storage so your excess food can get safely to those who need it. There's now a law on the books that removes the single biggest barrier to retailers -- liability. The Good Samaritan Act protects good-faith donors, so there's no excuse for letting good food go to waste. Under President Clinton's leadership, we've found that by working in partnerships with folks in the public and private sectors who share our goals, we can do an even better job at meeting America's needs. Businesses like yours are in direct contact with consumers on a daily basis. The closer we can work together on issues like food safety and hunger, the better we're both going to be at serving the customers we both share. I want to thank you all for your efforts in working together to help make people's lives safer and more secure, today and for the future. Thank you. ###