DELAURO APPLAUDS USDA ACTION ON E.COLI TESTING

Washington, DC — Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-3), Ranking Member on the Labor, Education, Health, and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee, issued the following statement praising the U.S. Department of Agriculture's actions in expanding testing for six additional strains of E. coli bacteria.

Congresswoman DeLauro, a long-time food safety advocate, wrote to OMB Director Jacob Lew in June and to Secretary Vilsack in July urging the Administration to issue a strong rule that would identify these six strains of E. coli as adulterants and protect the public from harm.

"I am thrilled that the USDA will at last recognize these six devastating strains of E. coli as adulterants, as this new rule will help to protect American consumers from known deadly pathogens. It is a critical step forward in bettering our food safety system. When a similar action was taken on E. coli O157:H7, its prevalence decreased by nearly fourfold, and I hope to see a similar result with these six strains. I applaud this new rule, and hope to continue enhancing the USDA's ability to protect American consumers from unsafe food."