Industry seeks influence in new food-safety law

WASHINGTON (AP) — The battered peanut industry has a new message: Peanuts are safe to eat, and there’s a law in the works to make them even safer. So, have a handful.

In a nutshell, that’s the theme of a lobbying and public-relations campaign to help the industry rebound from a salmonella crisis blamed for killing at least nine people and sickening nearly 700 others.

With more than 3,400 peanut products recalled in the outbreak linked to Peanut Corp. of America, a rattled public is buying less of them. One analyst puts the economic damage at $1 billion.

The effort by farmers and food manufacturers is part of a delicate strategy: Backing new federal food-safety rules to help reassure consumers while opposing steps they think go too far. It also illustrates a hard lesson learned by groups that find themselves in Congress’ cross hairs: It is better to help lawmakers shape regulations than to let others do it for you.

“We know things are going to have to be done, and we want to be part of fixing the problem,” said Mike McLeod, a lobbyist representing the Western Peanut Growers Association, whose members are Texas peanut farmers. “We want to be perceived as being constructive in trying to get this problem behind us.”

The nation’s 10,000 peanut growers get nearly $1 billion a year for their crops, with products like peanut butter and candy generating billions more, according to Stanley Fletcher, a University of Georgia agriculture professor specializing in peanuts.

Fletcher estimates farmers alone could lose $500 million this year from the salmonella crisis, with an additional $500 million lost in overall economic activity. That makes tougher safety standards an easier sell to an industry which might otherwise resist.

“A safer product means higher consumer confidence. Higher consumer confidence means they sell more product,” said Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Ga., whose state is the nation’s largest peanut producer.

Farmers have come to Washington to lobby Congress and the Obama administration. They’ve asked them to buy more peanut butter for federal feeding programs and to change a government program they say is driving peanut prices down. But the main focus is on safety.

The most prominent food-safety bill is one sponsored by Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin, D-Ill., backed by Republican Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson of Georgia. It would require companies to have food safety plans, empower the Food and Drug Administration to recall tainted products and require annual FDA inspections of facilities it considers high risk.

Durbin’s bill has drawn praise from farmers, food manufacturers and consumer advocates, though there are divisions over whether to seek even stricter legislation. Consumer groups prefer at least yearly inspections for all food facilities, fees on food manufacturers to pay for the inspections and electronic tracking of food shipments.

“If they really want to protect their industry, they should support tougher oversight,” said Jean Halloran, director of food policy initiatives for Consumers Union.