Not much has changed since 1906, when Upton Sinclair dropped his magnum opus on a world in the throes of industrialization.
At least, that’s the picture that liberals like Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) are propagating: Big business is forcing poultry workers to brave conditions straight out of “The Jungle,” and “any attempt to increase lines speeds” at poultry plants would erode food and worker safety.
Political groups wanting to stop the US Dept. of Agriculture’s plan to modernize its poultry inspection with its proposed HACCP-Based Inspection Models Project (HIMP) regulations are going all-out to do so. And they’re not letting the truth stand in the way of their charges against the plan that would greatly improve food safety in the US poultry-processing industry.
You’re more likely to get injured or become ill selling an RV to Cousin Eddie than you are working in a poultry processing plant. And it’s as safe mowing the fairway on the 3rd hole or working the omelet station at the country club champagne brunch as it is to work in a poultry processing plant. And it’s more dangerous to work at a department store (especially during the holidays), a pet store or for your state and local government. Read More >
In an effort to continue progress toward reducing foodborne illnesses, we believe the poultry inspection system should be modernized to transition to a model that is more science- and risk-based.
Read More >
During a House appropriations hearing April 16, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said he expected the agency to take action to publish the final rule on modernizing poultry inspection procedures “very soon.” However, a spokesperson told Feedstuffs that after two months USDA is still in the process of determining the final rule, and has not even sent it to the Office of Management and Budget for final review.
Read More >
Like so many posts that I read about on the new proposed poultry inspection system, it is loaded with innuendos, inflammatory comments and is often just plain wrong.
But to lay the ground work for this OpEd, let’s talk about the modernization of the poultry inspection system for a few paragraphs.
First of all, the Poultry Products Inspection System was signed into law in 1957 by then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower. I was a 10-year-old boy living in Loup City, Nebraska at the time.
A lot has changed since then, but not the way the USDA inspects poultry.
My passion for public health stems from my career as an infectious disease doctor, watching families cope with the heartbreak caused by preventable diseases, including foodborne illness. I know what it feels like to explain to a husband in shock that the reason his wife is on life support is because of something she ate that was contaminated with a deadly pathogen.
Read More >
You may not know it, but every day, 10,000 dedicated USDA employees worry about the safety of the meat, poultry, and egg products you and your family eat.
Over the last few weeks, there has been a lot of misinformation in the media about a proposal by USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) to modernize inspection at poultry slaughter plants. In fact, our plan will help prevent foodborne illnesses.
The Poultry Science Association (PSA) today announced its broad backing of a government proposal to update federal inspection procedures in poultry processing facilities in the U.S. The proposed changes, as summarized in a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) press release, will modernize the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service’s (FSIS) approach to young chicken and turkey slaughter inspection “by focusing FSIS inspection resources on the areas of the poultry production system that pose the greatest risk to food safety.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The incidence of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses in the poultry sector, which includes slaughter and processing, continues to decline, according to the 2011 Injury and Illness Report recently released by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Read More >
