Trumpet Magazine Program Allowing Pork Plants to Inspect Themselves Fails AllGov| S eptember 13 The U.S. Department of Agriculture (usda) spent 15 years sponsoring a pilot program that involved porkprocessing plants speeding up operations while taking on a greater role in inspecting meat to ensure safety. usda officials concluded that the new system failed to stop the production of contaminated meat—and yet, the agency wants to now expand this flawed process to all pork producers in the United States. The pilot project was used at five American hog plants, and a similar program was also tested in select countries that export red meat to the U.S. It allowed producers to increase the speed of processing lines by as much as 20 percent, and it reduced the number of usda safety inspectors by 50 percent at each plant, replacing them with private inspectors employed by the companies. A program of this sort had long been advocated by the meat industry, and its initial launch in 1997 was hailed by meat producers because the reduced government oversight and increased rate of processing would mean greater profits. … At the time, the usda promised it would study the effectiveness of the new inspection program. But it never did. Now a report issued by the usda Office of the Inspector General shows that the 15-year experiment has proven to be a disaster for the health and safety of American and foreign consumers alike.
Posted on: Sat, 14 Sep 2013 19:59:05 +0000
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