A consumer rights group wants a federal court to vacate a new poultry inspection system adopted by an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The regulations, finalized this summer by the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and taking effect on Oct. 20, would give chicken and turkey slaughterhouses the green light to “dramatically increase their slaughter line speeds, while threatening public health and introducing unwholesome poultry into interstate commerce," Food & Water Watch contends in the lawsuit.
The new inspection system violates the Poultry Products Inspection Act because it eliminates mandatory inspection requirements and the regulations were finalized before the opportunity for public comment, according to the suit, which was filed on Sept. 11 in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. The lawsuit also contends the regulations are arbitrary and capricious.
FSIS did not immediately respond on Thursday, Sept. 19, to a request for comment.
On July 31, the food-safety agency announced a new poultry inspection system that it said imposes new requirements to control Salmonella and Campylobacter and would prevent up to 5,000 foodborne illnesses annually. Under the inspection system, poultry companies will review carcasses for defects, a move FSIS said will free up its inspectors to focus on food-safety examinations.
The poultry industry expressed support for the new inspection system before the regulations were finalized. Rather than being confined to examining the dead birds for physical defects such as bumps and bruises, FSIS inspectors will have flexibility to search for causes of foodborne illnesses such as Salmonella, said Keith Williams, vice president of communications and marketing with the National Turkey Federation, in a phone interview earlier this year. According to a powerpoint presentation from FSIS, such sorting activities largely relate to the marketability of the carcasses rather than food safety.
Consumer and labor groups argued the proposal would compromise food safety and exacerbate the burden on inspectors who already suffer carpel tunnel syndrome and other ailments. Responding to public comments on its proposal, FSIS said the finalized regulations would cap at 140 birds per minute maximum line speeds, remaining consistent with current programs. FSIS had proposed increasing the number of inspections to 175 chickens per minute with one FSIS inspector on the line and one FSIS inspector off the line.
Before FSIS adopted the new regulations, government inspectors examined every carcass, according to Food & Water Watch. The lawsuit estimates the new system will lead to a reduction of as many as 770 federal inspectors.
“USDA’s new system will harm consumers and reverse 100 years of effective government regulation of the meat industry," said Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch, in a statement. “It’s essentially a return to Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle. It’s a huge step backwards for our food safety system."
But USDA said it has learned a great deal about managing pathogens such as Salmonella since it began inspecting poultry more than a half century ago, requiring a more modern approach. FSIS has refuted criticism that fewer inspectors will compromise food safety, citing data from a pilot program showing “greater compliance with sanitation and HACCP regulations, carcasses with lower levels of visible fecal contamination, and equivalent or lower levels ofSalmonella contamination."
“These positive results were able to be achieved with fewer inspectors overall, but more inspectors deployed to more meaningful food safety-based activities," FSIS said in a Q&A on “Poultry Slaughter Modernization."
Under the new system, all poultry facilities must conduct microbiological testing at two points in their production process to demonstrate that they are controlling two common pathogens, Salmonella and Campylobacter. FSIS said it is the first time such requirements have been imposed.
No comments:
Post a Comment