Missoula County and the Missoula City-County Health Department oppose Senate Bill 94 - Revise laws regarding exchanges between home canners and gardeners, before the Senate on the floor this afternoon. SB 94 would exempt home canners from food safety regulations. Home-canned food is the number one source of botulism, according to the CDC, and this proposed legislation will increase the public risk to this deadly toxin. Please oppose SB 94.
Respectfully, Dale Bickell on behalf of the Missoula County Commissioners
Thank you. Missoula County senators were 100% in opposing this bill. Here are some talking points for tomorrow's vote (we need five switches).
A talking point to kill SB 94 is: Bread and jam/jellies can be sold to the Public at a Farmers Market without a food establishment license. The Sanitarians have supported this license exception because the license exempt foods being sold to the public at farmers Markets are low risk and the farmers market must be approved by the City Council or County Commission if they are outside of a City. Thus, the local sanitarian knows when and where the public sales occur. Further the market master must keep a record of who is selling what at the market so that if there is a problem with a food item it can be corrected.
In contrast, this bill allows high risk foods such as canned vegetables to be exchanged or sold to the public anywhere: without approval by any local elected officials, and without anyone knowing when and where the exchanges take place.
If a death or coma causing illness occurs due to someone eating bad beans, we likely will not be able to prevent further death or serious illness because the victim will be dead and we won't know where that person got the bad beans or who produced them. This bill should be recalled because we won't be able to recall the bad beans.
Senator Barrett,
ReplyDeleteMissoula County and the Missoula City-County Health Department oppose Senate Bill 94 - Revise laws regarding exchanges between home canners and gardeners, before the Senate on the floor this afternoon. SB 94 would exempt home canners from food safety regulations. Home-canned food is the number one source of botulism, according to the CDC, and this proposed legislation will increase the public risk to this deadly toxin. Please oppose SB 94.
Respectfully,
Dale Bickell on behalf of the Missoula County Commissioners
Thank you. Missoula County senators were 100% in opposing this bill. Here are some talking points for tomorrow's vote (we need five switches).
ReplyDeleteA talking point to kill SB 94 is: Bread and jam/jellies can be sold to the Public at a Farmers Market without a food establishment license. The Sanitarians have supported this license exception because the license exempt foods being sold to the public at farmers Markets are low risk and the farmers market must be approved by the City Council or County Commission if they are outside of a City. Thus, the local sanitarian knows when and where the public sales occur. Further the market master must keep a record of who is selling what at the market so that if there is a problem with a food item it can be corrected.
In contrast, this bill allows high risk foods such as canned vegetables to be exchanged or sold to the public anywhere: without approval by any local elected officials, and without anyone knowing when and where the exchanges take place.
If a death or coma causing illness occurs due to someone eating bad beans, we likely will not be able to prevent further death or serious illness because the victim will be dead and we won't know where that person got the bad beans or who produced them. This bill should be recalled because we won't be able to recall the bad beans.
-Jim Carlson