House committees review food safety issue in Capitol cafeteria, urge Senate to pass food safety bill.

HARRISBURG, Jan. 25 – The House Agriculture and Rural Affairs and State Government committees today held a joint public hearing to review the issue of the mice infestation and unsanitary conditions that closed the Capitol cafeteria recently, and called on the Senate to pass a comprehensive food safety initiative.

House Bill 174, which was introduced by state Rep. Mike Carroll, passed the House last June, but has stalled in the Senate. This measure would improve the state Department of Agriculture's ability to enforce food safety regulations at restaurants and other locations where food is prepared and sold, such as fairs and picnics. It would also standardize inspections and reporting across the state and make statewide inspection records available to the public on the Department of Agriculture's Web site.

State Rep. Mike Hanna, chairman of the agriculture committee, and Rep. Babette Josephs, chairwoman of the State Government Committee, said they felt compelled to investigate what caused the problems and what can be done to prevent a recurrence since the Capitol cafeteria provides dining services for not only state employees, but for guests, including school children and the public on a regular basis.

The agriculture committee has jurisdiction over food safety matters, while the State Government Committee oversees the Department of General Services, the state agency responsible for cafeteria operations in the Capitol complex, including the main cafeteria in the East Wing.

"We are urging the Senate to take action on this legislation that links together food safety inspections with the license renewal and posts these results on the Web for all consumers to see," Hanna said. "The current lack of uniformity in regulating food safety in Pennsylvania, as well as jurisdictional issues that have led to inspection lapses, have made it difficult to ensure public safety and prevent and contain food-poisoning outbreaks or situations like we saw recently at the Capitol cafeteria."

"It is important that a safe, sanitary and disease-free environment is maintained for all food service establishments, so I was appalled to learn that this was not the case in our own backyard," Josephs said. "It was essential for us to investigate why the state-mandated inspections never took place and to prevent a recurrence here for the safety of all who use the Capitol dining facility, including school children and the public. I urge the Senate to take quick action on Representative Carroll's food safety bill, which would help address the problems that occurred at the Capitol cafeteria."

The committees heard testimony from James P. Creedon, DGS secretary and Bruce Walton, vice president of operations for business dining with ARAMARK, the private company that operates the Capitol cafeteria.

The Capitol cafeteria was shut down Dec. 17 after state inspectors found a mouse infestation and 16 other health-code violations. In spite of a state law requiring annual inspections of licensed food-service establishments, it had not been inspected since 2005. The cafeteria reopened Jan. 4 after addressing the violations.