Kevin's Law (as referred to in Representative

Anna Eshoo Anna A. Eshoo ( ; née Georges; born December 13, 1942) is an American politician who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 1993 to 2025. She is a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democ ...

's introduction of the law in 2005 and in the 2008 documentary '' Food, Inc.''; formally known as the Meat and Poultry Pathogen Reduction and Enforcement Act of 2003, ) was proposed legislation that would have given the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and producti ...

the power to close down plants that produce contaminated meat.Kevin's Story
foodborneillness.org page for Kevin's Story Kevin's Law was nicknamed in memory of two-year-old Kevin Kowalcyk of Colorado, who died in 2001 after developing hemolytic-uremic syndrome due to eating a hamburger contaminated with ''E. coli'' O157:H7. The bill was reintroduced by Rep. Anna G. Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, as , in the 109th Congress.H.R.3160 - Kevin's Law
Open Congress page for H.R.3160 - Kevin's LawAnna G. Eshoo, D-Palo Alto
house.gov page for Kevin's Law This bill never became law, as it was referred to committee but never reported on. In 2011, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

signed into law the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), introduced by Rep. Betty Sutton. The FSMA contains key elements of Kevin's Law. Kevin's Law would strengthen the U.S. government's ability to prevent contaminated meat and poultry from entering the food supply by: *Requiring the

(USDA) to identify the pathogens that threaten human health (e.g., ''

Salmonella ''Salmonella'' is a genus of bacillus (shape), rod-shaped, (bacillus) Gram-negative bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae. The two known species of ''Salmonella'' are ''Salmonella enterica'' and ''Salmonella bongori''. ''S. enterica'' ...

'', ''E. coli'' O157:H7, '' Listeria monocytogenes''). *Requiring the USDA to establish performance standards to reduce the presence of these pathogens in meat and poultry. *Confirming that the USDA has the authority to enforce its own standards by shutting down plants that continually breach basic health standards. Courts have held that the USDA does not have this authority in the absence of explicit authorizing legislation.

References

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External links

Eshoo Introduces 'Kevin's Law'

H.R.3160 - Kevin's Law (OpenCongress.org)

H.R. 2203: Meat and Poultry Pathogen Reduction and Enforcement Act (GovTrack.us)

Full text of H.R. 2203

Kevin's story updated by Barbara Kowalcyk for Food, Inc. A Robert Kenner Film in pbs.org

Proposed legislation of the 108th United States Congress Proposed legislation of the 109th United States Congress Food law