Orrin Hatch: “I rise in support of the committee substitute, and I want to take this opportunity to express my wholehearted support…”

“I rise in support of the committee substitute, and I want to take this opportunity to express my wholehearted support for the fine efforts of our colleague, Senator Bumpers, to bring a measure of rationality to Food and Drug Administration regulation under the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act. There is no disagreement in this body that the new food labels mandated by the NLEA should be applied. However, the May 8 deadline for the new labeling has caused an extraordinary hardship for many manufacturers and distributors, and it is entirely appropriate that the Congress rectify that problem tonight. This problem with the NLEA was first brought to my attention by officials of Continental Baking Co. in Utah, including Mr. Darrell Ogden, the plant manager. Continental Baking estimates that they have $2 million in old-stock labels, including almost $100,000 worth of stock in Utah. As Mr. Ogden told me, circumstances beyond the control of many manufacturers and packagers have caused them to have substantial leftover stocks of old format packaging. The winter weather, which caused slower-than-expected delays in sales, combined with printing delays in many areas, have contributed to this problem. It does not make any sense for that packaging to be discarded. This is not an attempt on anyone's part to skirt the law, but rather a recognition that it is ridiculous for substantial stocks of old packaging to be discarded simply because of any arbitrary deadline.”