February 17, 2011 01:22 AM UTC

Senator Jahn Sponors Bill to Limit Retail Liability for Tainted Food - Updated

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• by: (((JADodd)))

( – promoted by Colorado Pols)

Updates (2) Below

State Senator Jahn is sponsoring HB 11-1190 – limiting damages against retailers for foodborne illnesses.  The folks over at Food Safety News are reporting that Jahn and Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg have presented the bill but are refusing to say who has put them up to it.  Here is the article (Fortuately, the website allows us a license to reprint it as long as we provide proper attribution.):

A Bid to Limit Retail Liability for Tainted Food by Dan Flynn | Feb 16, 2011

A bill that gets dropped in the hopper at a state legislature often starts out as a mini mystery. Who’s behind it? Where did it really come from?  What is it really trying to accomplish?

Colorado House Bill 11-1190–limiting damages against retailers for foodborne illnesses—is just such a bill. Its sponsors are state Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg and state Sen. Cheri Jahn. And they’re not talking.

Sonnenberg is a farmer-rancher from Colorado’s rural eastern plains and Jahn is a suburban politician from populous Jefferson County. He’s a Republican and she’s a Democrat.

Both serve on their respective chamber’s agriculture committees. He chairs House Ag and she is vice chair of Senate Ag. Food Safety News asked Sonnenberg and Jahn to respond to questions about HB 1190, but neither did so.

As drafted, the bill would greatly limit the liability of food retailers in foodborne illness cases.   It would mean that retailers would be let off from responsibility when their customers get sick unless it could be shown that they were responsible for contamination or had actual knowledge of it at the time of the sale.

Under the doctrine of strict liability, every part of the supply chain is deemed responsible for producing safe food to protect consumers. The Sonnenberg/Jahn bill would provide a “get out of jail free” card for the retail sector.

There is already some confusion about the language of the bill, which has not yet been scheduled for a hearing. The liability limiting language would apply when “jurisdiction cannot be obtained over the manufacturer.”

That has caused some legislative observers to speculate that Lakewood, CO-based Vitamin Cottage Natural Food Markets Inc. might be behind the bill. It was caught up in the 2009 Salmonella outbreak involving Peanut Corporation of America (PCA), and settled litigation after PCA’s bankruptcy.

The 30-store Vitamin Cottage chain, with units in Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas, was grinding organic peanuts from PCA’s Texas facility in early 2009 that were contaminated with Salmonella.  

This is really bad policy.  The deficit chicken hawks in Congress have proposed cutting the Food & Drug Admin.’s budget.  There will be fewer inspectors and fewer inspections.  At the state a local level, budget cuts will limit the number of onsite inspections of all kinds of food processors and retail distributors.  Food safety costs money – hiring people to inspect and clean food before it is sold to you and I – whether in a grocery store or a restaurant – eats into profits.  The threat that a failure to properly inspect or clean food will give rise to significant monetary loss will become the only incentive that food retailer have do their part to ensure the safety of our food supply.

UPDATE: As her constituent, I called Sen. Jahn before I made my post.  I spoke to one of her staff – yes, a live person not an answering machine.  He told me that Sen. Jahn would call me back about the bill.  I have still heard nothing though I have called her office three times this morning.

After spending more time than I can afford, I have been able to confirm through three sources who asked to remain confidental (I am sorry but you will have to take my word for this.) that the HB 11-1190 is being promoted by Vitamin Cottage through its lobbyist Kirsten Thomson.  I have confirmed through records at the Secretary of State’s Office that Ms. Thomson is, in fact, a registered professional lobbyist for Vitamin Cottage.  I both called and e-mailed Ms. Thomson asking her to confirm or deny whether Vitamin Cottage and she are the source of the bill.  I have yet to receive a response.

Apparently, there is an interesting back story about why Vitamin Cottage might be lobbying to get this bill passed.  I have more research to do before I am comfortable writing about it.  So, stay tuned. There will be more to come.

Update No. 2:  I just received a call from Sen. Jahn.  She confirmed that Vitamin Cottage and Kirsten Thomson, its lobbyist, are the source and prime movers behind the bill.  Why you ask – think PCA and peanut butter.