[AUGUST 2003] The
Michigan Grocers Association is part of a workgroup called
the Food Security Summit examining ways to make our state’s
food supplies less vulnerable to biological attacks. The
workgroup is part of Michigan’s Homeland Security Team.
As the group
identifies potential problems, our state’s bottle return system
continually raises a red flag. MGA President Linda Gobler
recently notified members of the Michigan Beverage Container and
Recycling Task Force of the bioterrorism risk our bottle return
system creates. The letter is reprinted below.
July 30, 2003
Senator Cameron Brown
P.O. Box 30036
Lansing, MI 48909-7536
Dear Senator Brown:
By now you are aware of the alarming items brought into our
food stores every day via returnables: bugs and rodents, human
waste, used needles and condoms, tobacco chew and cigarette
butts, rotted food residue and gasoline. However, our state’s
beverage redemption program exposes us to another serious—but
often overlooked—risk. It makes our food supply vulnerable to
bioterrorism attacks.
Over the past 22 months, the ripple effects of the September
11 tragedy and the subsequent anthrax attacks reopened federal,
state and local strategy books to change standard operating
procedures around the world. The Bush Administration has spent
millions of dollars to build defenses against terrorist attacks.
Yet experts report that we are still very much at risk for a
bioterrorism attack, especially our food supply. Secretary of
Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson calls a biological
attack on the nation’s food supply his biggest concern. In
addition, the World Health Organization says, “food is…the most
vulnerable to intentional contamination by debilitating or
lethal agents.” In a 45-page special report, the WHO warned that
terrorist groups may ultimately target national food supplies
and has advised everyone to take adequate precautions.
Although a food supply attack is unlikely to result in famine
or malnutrition, possible damages include direct and indirect
costs to agricultural and the national economy, adverse
public-health effects, loss of public confidence in the food
system and public officials, and widespread public concern and
confusion.
As a member of the Food Security Summit workgroup—part of the
state’s Homeland Security Team—Michigan Grocers Association has
been working to make our state’s food supply less vulnerable to
biological attacks. As the group works to identify and correct
potential problems, the issue of our state’s bottle return
system continually raises a red flag. The sheer volume of
containers coming into stores each day and the manner in which
they are handled makes this system a security risk.
FDA food security guidelines suggest that, among other
things, retailers inspect all incoming product returns for signs
of tampering, liquids or odors. That is impossible for Michigan
grocers to do when shoppers carry returnable containers into
stores, often in trash bags. In some stores, people bring bags
to a deposit area in the front of the store, which is typically
not a highly staffed area. In other stores, the shoppers haul
the bags throughout the store into the back bottle return area
making it possible to carry just about anything anywhere in the
store without drawing so
much as a second glance from employees or other shoppers.
When the Beverage Container Law
was passed in 1976, not many people worried about the safety of
our food supply. Unfortunately, we live a new era—one where we
must look over our shoulders more often than before.
To meet our vision of public
health protection through safe food and water sources, we must
reduce our vulnerability to attacks before they occur. We must
stop bringing used containers into our food stores.
Sincerely,
LINDA M. GOBLER
cc:
Senators Patty Birkholz, Mike Bishop, Alan Cropsey, Jud Gilbert,
Michelle McManus
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