The government revamped its poultry inspection system so USDA inspectors devote more time to preventing pathogen contamination of meat while processors have more responsibliity for finding quality defects. The New Poultry Inspection System, controversial since its proposal in January 2012, will prevent 5,000 cases of foodborne illnesses a year, says USDA. It says rates of salmonella and campylobacter bacteria were stubbornly high under the longstanding approach to inspection. “The system we are announcing today imposes stricter requirements on the poultry industry and places our trained inspectors where they can better ensure food is being processed safely,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
“The changes would be voluntary, but many of the country’s largest poultry companies are expected to opt in,” said the AP, and number of inspectors at poultry plants could be reduced by around a fourth if all companies opted into the proposal.
Plants will be limited to a maximum line speed of 140 birds per minute under NPIS, the same as the current limit. The 2012 proposal allowed higher speeds but the idea was opposed by consumer groups. The Washington Post said the NPIS “provides a waiver to 20 plants that are already in a pilot program, letting them operate at 175 birds per minute. Vilsack said their lines now average 131 birds per minute.”
The National Chicken Council welcomed NPIS as a modernization and lamented “politics have trumped sound science, 15 years of food and worker safety data and a successful pilot program with plants operating at 175 birds per minute.” The National Turkey Federation said it expected many turkey plants would adopt the new system.
The consumer group Food and Water Watch said NPIS “will transfer most poultry inspection from government inspectors to the companies so they can police themselves.” The Consumer Federation of America said USDA failed to set strong standards for pathogen reduction.