Consumer group sues to block USDA poultry plan
The consumer group Food and Water Watch filed suit in federal court to stop USDA from implementing new poultry inspection rules. USDA says the new rules will modernize inspection and let meat inspectors spend more time looking for and preventing microbial contamination of meat. Food and Water Watch says the plan, which allows plants to run slaughter lines are higher speeds, abdicates USDA’s responsibility to identify meat that is not wholesome. “These rules essentially privatize poultry inspection and pave the way for others in the meat industry to police themselves,” said the group.
USDA says the New Poultry Inspection System will prevent 5,000 cases of food-borne illness each year because meatpackers will be required to control salmonella and campylobacter in poultry meat. It says the new system “places our trained inspectors where they can better ensure food is being processed safely.” An option version of the new system allows poultry plants to sort products for quality defects before they are presented for USDA inspection. USDA proposed the new system on Jan 27, 2012, and finished the rule-making process on July 31.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington and is available here.