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Press Contact:
Alyson Heyrend
Communications Director
240 East Morris Ave. #235
South Salt Lake, UT 84115
(801) 486-1236 (phone)
(801) 455-5593 (cell)
(801) 486-1417 (fax)
Matheson Pushes for Lead Labels
Tells Utah Child’s Story at Food Safety Hearing
Washington D.C.—Congressman Jim Matheson today sought answers from federal food safety regulators about why Utah consumers are being exposed to unsafe lead levels in their dishware. Matheson, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Health subcommittee, questioned a representative from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) at a hearing on draft food safety legislation.
“Are you aware of cases, like the one in Utah, of a nursing child who got lead poisoning from her mother, after lead leached out of the family’s dinnerware? Do you perform any lead testing on these imported plates before they wind up in people’s cupboards?” Matheson asked. “Shouldn’t a warning label be printed on the product or the packaging, to alert consumers to the possible presence of lead in their dishes?”
Matheson told the committee about news reports in Utah, including stories about hundreds of Utahns lining up to have local health officials test for lead levels in their dishes. Matheson said many learned that despite an FDA-required stamp on the box, the lead content in the glaze on some everyday dishware exceeded the FDA’s allowable lead limits.
The committee questioned witnesses Thursday regarding a draft bill that proposes a broad overhaul of the FDA’s food safety regulatory role. The draft legislation is a response to numerous U.S. cases of illness and death that have been traced to contaminated imported food and drug supplies.
“We must ferret out bad actors who seek to game the regulatory system and pass off contaminated products as safe for consumption,” said Rep. John D. Dingell, Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. “As we have learned from tragic events caused by E. coli-contaminated spinach and the pet food spiked with melamine, lack of regulatory diligence can lead to deaths of people and pets. I look forward to working with Congressman Matheson to pass legislation designed to protect the public from unsafe food and drugs.”
Matheson said he will work with the committee to try to address the lead in dishware issue in the draft legislation. More hearings are expected and a final measure may be marked up in the next few weeks.
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