Published Sunday, July 28, 2002
GROVE CITY AREA
for Bucks' grandson
Nearly a year after the death of her grandson from complications due to E. coli infection, a Grove City area woman and her family are continuing their efforts to encourage food safety.
In March, Sen. Thomas Harkin, Iowa, chairman of the Senate Agricultural Committee, introduced the Meat and Poultry Pathogen Reduction Act of 2002, which will officially be named "Kevin's Law," on Aug. 1, during a press conference in Madison, Wis. The bill was named in honor of Kevin Kowalcyk, grandson of Patricia and Robert Buck of Pine Township.
The bill would authorize the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop and publish a list of foodborne pathogens, such as E. coli, set standards for harmful bacteria like E. coli and test raw meat and poultry for those hazards. It would also mandate the USDA to shut down plants that consistently fail to meet government food safety standards.
Kevin, whose parents and two sisters live in Wisconsin, died last Aug. 11 of hemolytic uremic syndrome, a complication of E. coli 0157:H7 infection. The source of the bacteria still has not been traced, but health officials suspect Kevin was infected after eating a contaminated hamburger.
Mrs. Buck and her family have collected 2,000 signatures on petitions circulated throughout the community asking Congress to co-sponsor the bill. The petitions are available at several area doctor's offices.
Mrs. Buck has also visited Washington, D.C., to encourage local congressman to co-sponsor Harkin's bill, which U.S. Rep. Phil English, Erie, R-21st, and U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter already have co-sponsored.
In the fall, Mrs. Buck plans to travel to Washington with her daughter, Barbara, Kevin's mother, to present Congress with all the signatures. They hope to get 5,000 signatures by then, to represent the 5,000 Americans who die each year from foodborne illness.
Anyone who wants to write their senators about Kevin's Law can do so by logging onto actionnetwork.org/campaign/kevinslaw. The Web site is set up to e-mail letters to Congress.
Anyone who wants to help in the Buck family's campaign, or anyone who wants additional information about foodborne illness can write to Food Safety, Box 291, Grove City, Pa., 16127.