Dear Food Safety Community,

Legislation that would help FDA manage its food safety responsibilities is headed to the floor of the House. The bill has a HACCP-type system as its center piece. However, a small group, led by the Weston A. Price Foundation and other advocates of raw milk, are leading a very effective internet campaign to oppose the legislation.

So — is it time to tell Congress what you know about HACCP and food safety? To make yourself heard? I know there are lots of issues around modernizing food safety. CSPI has had to give up the hope for a unified food safety agency in the near future in order to support this legislation. But you have to ask — is it worth the wait for a perfect bill, or do we need these controls in place now?

Anyway, we wanted to bring this issue and the campaign against the legislation to the attention of the listserve. As food safety professionals, it IS time to weigh in now.

An easy way to do this is to access CSPI’s website at http://www.cspinet.org/takeaction/index.html, and send a message to your member of Congress. If you don’t like our version, you can even rewrite the letter!

But please weigh in. It is how democracy works. If they only hear from Western Price . . . it will be no surprise what happens.

Happy and safe 4th of July!

CSPI’s food safety team