If one asks the guy on the street to rate Congress’ performance in 2021, the vast majority will clearly give a thumbs down in reply. Whether one is a Democrat or a Republican, there is simply not much for one to crow about this past year. The year started off on a sour note with the January 6th Capitol Hill siege and Congress simply never found traction as finger-pointing and a do-nothing Congress labored on month after month. Sure, there were a few successes including the passage of the huge pandemic aid package plan and the massive trillion-dollar bipartisan infrastructure bill. But too many important issues were left on the table, including at press time, the major economic plan that drew lots of media headlines last month, new voting rights and climate change legislation, social safety net legislation, immigration reform, gun safety issues, and police reform legislation all of which did not see the light of day.
Now that 2022 is here, everyone’s attention on the Hill will surely soon turn to the mid-term elections. Democrats with their slim majority are growing increasingly worried about retaining their majority in the Congress. As we are now witnessing the start of the second session of the 117th Congress, my assessment is that until the rules within the Legislative Branch are changed, we will continue to witness more finger-pointing. How I, and certainly many of my readers think too, yearn for the days when both sides of the aisle often reached bipartisan support for many issues and things got accomplished. Perhaps the mid-term elections will shake up Congress and bring some decorum back to the Hill. Let’s hope so.
FDA Releases Foodborne Outbreak Response Plan
We all should know that a foodborne outbreak has the potential to spell disaster for food retailers and manufacturers unless systems are firmly in place to handle the outbreak with various stakeholder groups. The good news now is that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last month released their Foodborne Outbreak Response Improvement Plan which is designed to help the FDA and its partners enhance the speed, effectiveness, coordination, and communications of foodborne outbreak investigations.
The goal of the new Response Improvement Plan is to improve the FDA’s ability to identify the sources and causes of foodborne illness outbreaks to reduce the number of outbreaks that go unsolved. The plan, which is focused primarily on outbreaks associated with human food, is divided into four priority areas: (1) Tech-enabled product traceback; (2) Root cause investigations; (3) Analysis and dissemination of outbreak data; and (4) Operational improvements. Early in 2022, FDA will hold a webinar to walk stakeholders through the plan, respond to questions, and discuss how regulatory partners, industry and others can work together to achieve important goals to curtail foodborne outbreaks. When the webinar date is announced, we will inform you.
Organized Retail Crime
In the past few months, reports have appeared in the news media including some dramatic and scary video footage, of retail theft gangs, including flash mobs, rushing into retail stores to ransack the premises and steal merchandise and cash. Largely in part due to social media, ad hoc gangs are quickly formed via e-mail and then within hours, come together to raid a retailer’s premise and make off with thousands of dollars in merchandise. Recognizing the problem, grocery CEO’s have joined the ranks of non-food retailers to urge Congress to address this relatively new phenomenon that has surfaced on social media.
In a letter sent last month to congressional leaders, 20 CEOs of major retailers, including grocers, expressed their concern regarding organized crime and urged law makers to pass the INFORM Consumer Act, which would update consumer protection laws to protect families and communities from the sale of stolen and also ”unsafe and dangerous” counterfeit goods online. Signing on to the letter, among other firms, were Kroger, Meijer’s, Rite Aid, Target, CVS, and Dollar General. Clearly something needs to be done!
Poultry Prices Unfair?
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D- Mass) and former presidential hopeful, is asking the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate what she describes as “anticompetitive practices by the poultry industry that have caused prices to spike by 25% this year over 2020 levels,” according to an item in Meatingplace News that crossed my desk. You may recall that in my last month’s commentary, I mentioned that the federal government was looking into pricing within the cattle industry from ranch to retail. Now it is the poultry industry that may soon be called before DOJ regulators and possibly Congress too.
Senator Warren is accusing the nation’s dominant poultry companies of conducting “schemes to eliminate small competitors while raising prices for consumers, cutting pay for American farmers and reporting massive profits.” Her comments were primarily directed at JBS Foods, Perdue Farms, Tyson Foods, and Sanderson Farms whom she said control 54% of the U.S. poultry market, allowing the major processors to take advantage of their ability as suppliers to “jack up prices” of the goods they sell, she concluded. At press time, none of the above firms had replied to the Warren announcement.
Food Price Outlook for 2022
The Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service recently reported that it expects food price inflation in 2022 will be relatively calm compared with the wild ride the food price index took in 2021. They reported that the price of beef and veal in 2022 is expected to increase by between 2% and 3%, compared with a range of 7.5 % and 8.5% in 2021. Pork is also expected to increase in price between 2% and 3% in 2022 compared to between an average of 7% to 8% last year. Poultry prices are expected to moderate to between 1% and 2%, compared with an increase in 2021 of between 4% and 5%.
Price increases for all food in 2022 are expected to fall between 2% and 3% in 2022 compared with a range of 3% to 4% last year.
Attention Food Importers
If you import food for sale in your stores, and don’t most retailers, then you should know that the FDA has taken steps to iron out bottlenecks in the process of importing food for sale in the U.S. The latest news is that as of January 1, 2022, FDA has opened the Voluntary Qualified Importer Program (VQIP) application portal. The VQIP is a voluntary fee-based program that provides importers, who achieve and maintain control over the safety and security of their supply chains, the benefits of expedited review and importation of human and animal foods into the U.S. If you are a food importer interested in applying for VQIP benefits during fiscal year 2023, keep in mind that the portal will officially close May 31, 2022. If you have any questions, call (301) 796-8745 or via e-mail to: [email protected].
“New” Chicken Coming
According to Politico News, climate-friendly chicken is almost here. The publication reported that environmentally conscious consumers will soon be able to buy “carbon-reduced” chicken that is partially raised on food waste diverted from grocery stores. “DO Good Chicken”, which launches at major national retailers next month, is a sign of the future as the government and consumers alike look to alternatives that help address climate change to reduce dependency upon the traditional methods of raising cattle and poultry.
What is this all about? Politico says that “DO Good Chicken” bills itself as the first domestic chicken brand actively combating climate change. The company said they worked with USDA to clear its labels before market, as required and the labels will say that each chicken saves four pounds of food waste from going into the landfill, and, along with it, three pounds of greenhouse gas emissions. Sounds good to me. In other related news, Horizon Organic Dairy announced that their products will be “carbon positive” by 2025 and Cascadian Farms has also announced the availability of “climate smart cereal” made with Kernza, a perennial grain that helps sequester more carbon. As I’ve said previously, a lot of new food processing technology is coming to market and probably sooner than later.
Step Up to Serve
The Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is soliciting nominations for membership to the National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection and expects to appoint committee members in 2022. The advisory committee plays a major role in advising USDA on the safety and wholesomeness of the foods we eat, and USDA is seeking nominations from individuals with knowledge and interest in meat and poultry safety. If you are interested, sign up! Nominations must be received by February 18, 2022. For more information, contact Valeria Green at (301) 504-0846 or e-mail at: [email protected].
Farm Bill Preliminary Thoughts
A re-write and finalization of the next farm bill (due in 2023) will soon start to gain momentum and undoubtedly you will hear a lot more about the all-important to our food industry farm bill in 2022. New issues for debate that were not considered when the last farm bill was written in 2018 include such current hot topics as supply chain disruptions, pandemic challenges, climate change, the mid-term elections and generally the current political polarization all of which will amplify discussions and bring uncertainty about how the next farm bill will shape up. One thing for sure, it is going to be another “roller coaster” ride for the legislators who will draft our next farm bill.
Finally, I wish a healthy and happy New Year to all my peers in the food industry. Please continue to do all you can to stay safe and healthy and as Maryland Governor Larry Hogan often says, “Wear those damn masks”.
Barry Scher is associated with the public policy firm of Policy Solutions LLC and may be reached at: [email protected]
