Food Safety Impacts Iowa Politics

The food safety debate has entered the political races in Iowa, with egg safety as a major topic dividing current state Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey and challenger Francis Thicke, a Fairfield dairy farmer.

Northey is in favor of the FDA maintaining federal oversight of food safety for U.S. uniformity. Thicke wants Iowa to adopt food safety rules independent of the FDA.

The state was the site of the recall of more than a half billion eggs produced at two Iowa farms when more than 1,600 people became sick after eating Salmonella-contaminated eggs. The recall raised questions about FDA oversight at egg farms.

Republican Northey, who is seeking a second term, argues the FDA should retain that oversight to avoid inconsistencies that could occur if each state adopted its own rules. Democratic challenger Thicke would push for Iowa to adopt its own food safety rules feeling that new FDA rules are insufficient and out-of-date.

Egg safety in Iowa has “fallen through the cracks,” Thicke said. “The egg safety oversight is 50 years behind the times.” He said Iowa should adopt egg safety rules similar to those in Maine, where vaccination programs and regular inspections for salmonella are mandatory. Thicke said Maine also requires egg producers to have a veterinarian on staff, with producers paying all the costs of the program.

“We produce more eggs than any other state in the nation and we should be a leader in egg safety,” Thicke said. “We should be out front, assuring the safety of our eggs and the integrity of Iowa's name. It’s a black-eye for Iowa that this happened.”

Northey, a Spirit Lake farmer, disagrees that Iowa should adopt its own food safety rules. “I think it's important to have federal regulations on food safety and that it would not be good to have them vary across all 50 states,” Northey said.

He said new FDA rules that took effect in early July would likely have prevented the problems seen at the two northern Iowa egg farms at the center of the recall.

Compiled from AP and PR-USA articles.