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Schumer- Tracing needed on produceNEW YORK (AP)--U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer called on the Food and Drug Administration to immediately institute produce-tracing measures after E. coli bacteria sickened scores of Taco Bell customers. "The FDA still cannot give us a definite answer on the cause for the outbreak," Schumer said Dec. 17. "Unless we overhaul our nation's tracing and monitoring procedures, the FDA and the other agencies in charge will continue to act like a pack of blind mice." Initially, a laboratory hired by Taco Bell, a unit of Yum! Brands Inc., believed green onions were the source of the E. coli. Now, health officials suspect iceberg lettuce triggered the outbreak that left at least 71 customers ill in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. A spinach-caused E. coli outbreak killed three and sickened more than 200 in September, and two tomato-caused salmonella outbreaks made about 400 people ill in October and November. At that time, Schumer also called for overhauling federal oversight of the food supply and co-sponsored legislation to do just that. Schumer said Congress needs to pass legislation for new FDA rules and oversight to improve the accuracy and speed of tracing contaminated produce. Beginning next year, Schumer said he intends to reintroduce that food safety legislation, which would also make one new federal agency responsible for food safety monitoring. The "FDA's efforts to track contaminated food produce were not working because there wasn't a comprehensive system in place," Schumer said. In a letter to FDA Administrator Von Eschenbach, Schumer asked the FDA to make the changes quickly. A phone message left with an FDA spokeswoman in Washington, D.C. was not immediately returned. Date: 12/21/06
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