Congresswoman: More Federal Regs For Food Safety
In an effort to stave off waning consumer confidence in fresh fruits and vegetables--some of the major produce industry groups are calling for more government regulation.
Rosa DeLauro is a Democratic Congresswoman from Connecticut and ranking member of the House Appropriations Agriculture Sub-Committee and co-chair of the Congressional Food Safety Caucus. She will take over as chairman of the sub-committee in January when the Democrats return to power in Congress. She was on "Squawk Box" to talk about food safety.
DeLauro says the issue of food safety shows there needs to be more federal oversight. She plans on meetings in January to discuss a bill she's co-sponsoring to combine all the government food safety agencies--into one. She pointed out that there are currently too few inspectors and that the states and local governments need to be involved as well in protecting the public.
DeLauro says there is currently too much 'self-regulation' and that it's amazing that the food industry is calling for more government intervention.
FYI: some 76 million Americans get sick from eating bad food each year--and some 5,000 of those die.
