PRINTER'S NO. 2235
No. 235 Session of 1999
INTRODUCED BY CAPPABIANCA, BUNT, GORDNER, WALKO, CALTAGIRONE,
LAUGHLIN, READSHAW, GRUCELA, SOLOBAY, BELARDI, LESCOVITZ,
SHANER, M. COHEN, PISTELLA, TIGUE, TRELLO, McCALL, STABACK,
YOUNGBLOOD, HENNESSEY, DeWEESE, HALUSKA, COLAFELLA, DeLUCA,
STERN, SCHULER, TRAVAGLIO, B. SMITH, E. Z. TAYLOR, HERSHEY,
BEBKO-JONES, ROONEY, GEIST, WILLIAMS, SURRA, EVANS,
WOJNAROSKI, SATHER, VAN HORNE, SEYFERT, PESCI, S. MILLER,
CORRIGAN, LUCYK, LEDERER, KIRKLAND, HARHAI AND PIPPY,
SEPTEMBER 20, 1999
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS,
SEPTEMBER 20, 1999
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
1 Memorializing Congress to recognize the Pennsylvania Egg Quality
2 Assurance Program for its exceptional merit as a food safety
3 program and to consider the program as the national standard.
4 WHEREAS, This Commonwealth is the fifth largest egg producing
5 state in the country and has led the way in food safety for
6 almost ten years and now stands at the forefront of national
7 standards; and
8 WHEREAS, This Commonwealth supplies almost the entire Mid-
9 Atlantic region with their table eggs; and
10 WHEREAS, The Pennsylvania Egg Quality Assurance Program
11 (PEQAP) is a voluntary program developed by the egg industry and
12 administered by the Penn Ag Poultry Council, a nonprofit
13 agricultural trade association; and
14 WHEREAS, The program utilizes risk-reducing management
1 practices, such as third-party monitoring and egg testing, to
2 successfully improve the safety of this product; and
3 WHEREAS, Laboratory testing of eggs and environmental samples
4 are completed by the Certified Pennsylvania Animal Diagnostic
5 Laboratories at The Pennsylvania State University, the
6 University of Pennsylvania at New Bolton Center and the
7 Department of Agriculture; and
8 WHEREAS, The program utilizes safe handling labels versus
9 warning labels, which often leave a negative connotation; and
10 WHEREAS, The guidelines under the program cover egg
11 production and assure the commitment of the producer and
12 processor to implement the best management and monitoring
13 practices most likely to prevent Salmonella enteritidis
14 contamination; and
15 WHEREAS, Annually the egg industry invests over $1,000,000 in
16 the program on implementation, promotion and public awareness;
17 and
18 WHEREAS, According to a recent analysis of the program
19 completed by the Department of Agriculture there was a 49.5%
20 reduction in human Salmonella enteritidis isolation rates in the
21 Mid-Atlantic region where this Commonwealth is the principal egg
22 supplier; and
23 WHEREAS, According to a 15-member review team report prepared
24 by the Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control
25 and Prevention and United States Department of Agriculture,
26 dated January 18, 1997, it was stated that PEQAP can serve as a
27 prototype for the egg industry in the development of egg quality
28 assurance programs and that the industry should adopt quality
29 assurance programs based on interventions developed in the
30 Pennsylvania Pilot Project and used in the Pennsylvania Egg
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1 Quality Assurance Program; therefore be it
2 RESOLVED (the Senate concurring), That the General Assembly
3 of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania memorialize the Congress of
4 the United States to recognize the merit and effectiveness of
5 the Pennsylvania Egg Quality Assurance Program and to allow any
6 state that follows these protocols to use a safe handling label
7 which emphasizes refrigeration and proper cooking; and be it
8 further
9 RESOLVED, That the General Assembly memorialize Congress to
10 recognize the thorough and effective standards of the program
11 and consider adopting the program as the national standard,
12 thereby requiring no additional labels on eggs produced under
13 the program protocols; and be it further
14 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
15 the presiding officers of each house of Congress and to each
16 member of Congress from Pennsylvania.
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