Earlier this week at the Consumer Federation of America’s 39th Annual National Food Policy Conference, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer announced that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is partnering with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct criminal investigations of any company that sells food products causing human illness. Mizer stressed that his agency views any human illness caused by a food product as a potential violation of the law warranting criminal penalties. Mizer stated, “Our food safety work is fundamental to our consumer protection mission, because no product plays a more vital role in the lives of every single American.  That is why we take food safety no less seriously than any of the other risks that face the American people and why it has been the subject of much of our work during my time in the Civil Division.”

According to meatingplace.com, the two agencies may utilize the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) to enhance their enforcement powers. Investigations of food companies have increased since the Food Safety Modernization Act was enacted in 2011 and the FDCA was recently used to help investigate the case against the Peanut Corporation of America. Other food safety incidents, most notably those involving Chipotle Mexican Grille, may also apply the FD&C Act.

Time magazine recently noted that legal consequences of food safety violations are getting more severe. The FDA now has increased regulatory power over food safety and is bringing more criminal charges against companies involved in food safety scandals. Shawn Stevens, a food safety attorney, tells Time that the combination of precise tracking methods of foodborne illnesses and increased enforcement goals concerns some food executives. “What I hear in my conversations with CEOs and executives in the last couple of weeks is ‘I don’t want to end up in orange [prison garb]. It’s becoming part of the dialogue now at the corporate level,” Stevens stated.

In his statements earlier this week, Mizer concluded, “The Justice Department will continue to remain vigilant in safeguarding America’s food supply and will hold accountable those in the food industry who violate the public trust.”

A transcript of Deputy Assistant Attorney General Mizer’s remarks is available here.