<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

There are currently two bills in congress regarding food labeling that
affects celiacs.  Both HR 1356 and HR 4704 were introduced by Representative
Nita M. Lowey (D-NY) in the House of Representatives.  S 2499 is the same as
HR 4704 and was introduced by Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) in the
Senate.  It appears that HR 1356 is somewhat conflicting with HR 4704 and is
a weaker version with less detail.  HR 4704/S 2499 bill looks to be more
beneficial for us.  We all know the frustrations of having to verify the
gluten status of even foods labeled gluten-free.  It contains a section that
deals with cross-contamination (see p.9 lines 13-25, p.10, and p.11 lines
1-2) which is under much of the control of the Secretary of Health and Human
Services.  However, the enforcement of cross-contamination labeling is not
clear. You can compare them for yourself by going to the US Congress
websites listed below.  Here is a SUMMARY OF EACH BILL AND A LISTING OF THE
Committee and subcommittee members who have control over the fate of these
BILLS:

House Bill H.R.1356 http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-
bin/query/D?c107:1:./temp/~c107AamYf7::  Sponsor: Rep Lowey, Nita
M.(introduced 4/3/2001) Title: To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and
Cosmetic Act to require that foods containing spices, flavoring, or
coloring derived from meat, poultry, other animal products (including
insects), or known allergens bear labeling stating that fact and their names.

SUMMARY AS OF: 4/3/2001--Introduced.

Food Ingredient Right to Know Act Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and
Cosmetic Act to provide that a food shall be deemed to be misbranded if
it contains any spice, flavoring, or coloring derived from meat,
poultry, any other animal product (including insects), or a known food
allergen unless its labeling bears a statement with appropriate
prominence on the information panel providing that fact and the name of
the meat, poultry, other animal product, or known food allergen.  STATUS:

4/3/2001: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce (see below
for list of committee members).

4/25/2001: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health (see below for list of
subcommittee members)..

House Bill H.R.4704 http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-
bin/query/D?c107:5:./temp/~c107tQJoEx::  Sponsor: Rep Lowey, Nita
M.(introduced 5/9/2002) Title: To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and
Cosmetic Act to establish labeling requirements regarding allergenic
substances in food, and for other purposes.

STATUS: (color indicates Senate actions) 5/9/2002: Referred to the House
Committee on Energy and Commerce. 5/17/2002: Referred to the
Subcommittee on Health.

Senate Bill S.2499 http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-
bin/query/D?c107:4:./temp/~c107tQJoEx::  Sponsor: Sen. Kennedy, Edward
M.(introduced 5/9/2002) Title: A Bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug,
and Cosmetic Act to establish labeling requirements regarding allergenic
substances in food, and for other purposes.

STATUS:

5/9/2002: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education,
Labor, and Pensions.

The current laws of the United States can be found at:
http://law2.house.gov/download.htm

Note that HR 4704 and S 2499 have exactly the same wording except for the
sponsors.

Bills in committees or subcommittees have three fates: (1) tabled (i.e.,
they are essentially postponed, possibly forever), (2) releasing it for a
full House or Senate vote with a recommendation to pass it, (3) revised and
then released as in (2).  Bills in committees also may be referred to
subcommitttees within the committee.  It is possible that the Senate
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions may refer S 2499 to the
Subcommittee on Public Health.  The bill needs to pass with a simple
majority (218 of 435 in the House, 26 of 50 in the Senate).  The bill then
goes to the other congressional body where the process begins again.  Once
both the House and Senate pass the bill, any differences between the House
version and Senate version must be worked out by a conference committee of
both House and Senate members.  Then the bill must be finally approved by
both the House and Senate.  Because HR 4704 and S 2499 are concurrent, the
entire process may be faster than if only one body of Congress were working
on it.  Finally, the President needs to approve it; otherwise, the bill goes
back to the House and Senate and must pass by a 2/3 majority in both.

If your representative or senator is listed below on a committee and/or
subcommittee that is reviewing a bill, it is important that you request them
to speed the committee recommendation of the bill to the full House or
Senate vote and to ensure that it is not weakened if it is revised.  If your
representative or senator is not on one of the committees or subcommittees,
you could still urge them to support the speedy passage of the bills.
Speedy passage is essential because there is a clause that gives a four year
grace period.

Politically, it may be especially effective for you to write your congress
people regarding these bills if they are up for re-election or if they are
seeking higher office in an upcoming election.

To see who your representative is:
http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.html
To write your representative:
http://www.house.gov/writerep/
To see who your senators are:
http://www.senate.gov/senators/senator_by_state.cfm
To write your senators:
http://www.senate.gov/contacting/index.cfm

Pls. see second posting - Part 2- WHAT CONGRESS PEOPLE CONTROL FATE OF FOOD
INGRED. ACT for the names of Subcommittee and Committee Members who control
the fate of these bills.

Laura