21 U.S.C. § 398 — Notices to States regarding imported food

(a) The Secretary must notify states when imported food poses a threat. This applies if the Secretary has credible evidence that a shipment, or part of it, threatens serious illness or death to people or animals. The notice goes to states where the food is or will be held. It also goes to states where the food's manufacturer, packer, or distributor is located. This applies as far as the Secretary knows which states those are. When giving this notice, the Secretary asks each state to take whatever action it thinks is appropriate. The goal is to protect public health regarding that food. The choice of what to do, if anything, is left to the state. (b) This notice requirement does not limit any other power the Secretary already has over food. That power comes from the rest of this chapter. The Secretary can still use other legal tools alongside, or instead of, sending this notice.

The source credit identifies this section as part of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, originally enacted June 25, 1938 (ch. 675). The specific provision now codified at 21 U.S.C. § 398, however, was not part of the original 1938 statute; it was added as § 908 by Public Law 107-188, title III, § 310, on June 12, 2002. It was later renumbered as § 1008 by Public Law 111-31, division A, title I, § 101(b)(2), on June 22, 2009. The source credit thus documents two legislative actions: the 2002 addition and the 2009 renumbering, with no indication of substantive textual amendment beyond the renumbering itself. Public Law 107-188 is the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002. This act is generally understood to have been enacted in response to heightened concern, following the September 2001 terrorist attacks and subsequent anthrax incidents, about the vulnerability of the food supply and public health infrastructure to deliberate contamination or other emergencies. Title III of that act addressed food safety and security specifically, and provisions requiring notice to states about imported food threats are commonly associated with efforts to improve coordination between federal and state authorities in responding to contamination events. The record does not establish the specific legislative intent behind this particular notice provision beyond this general historical context, and no further detail should be inferred.