Poultry processors will soon be able to ask the USDA’s meat safety agency for permission to run slaughter lines at up to 175 birds per minute, an increase from the current limit of 140 birds. The Food Safety and Inspection Service said it would consider allowing the faster-moving lines at plants with records of good pathogen control, but it rejected an industry request to let plants run the lines as fast as they can.
At present, the faster line speed is permitted in only 20 U.S. plants. “In the near future, FSIS intends to make available criteria that it will use to consider waiver requests from young chicken establishments, in addition to the current 20, to operate at line speeds up to 175 bpm,” said acting deputy undersecretary Carmen Rottenberg. “FSIS expects to grant a limited number of additional waivers under the criteria.”
The National Chicken Council, a trade group, asked the FSIS last Sept. 1 to exempt plants slaughtering broiler chickens — young and generally healthy poultry — from the 140 bpm limit if they agree to safeguards that assure wholesome meat and control pathogens. “The petition did not include data to demonstrate that inspectors can conduct an effective carcass-by-carcass inspection at line speeds faster than” 175 bpm, said the meat safety agency in rejecting the industry request. But the FSIS said it now has “over a year of documented process control history” for plants operating at 175 bpm, so it will let additional qualified plants operate at that level.
“While we are disappointed about the denial of the petition, NCC is encouraged that there will be a viable path forward in the near future for those plants operating under NPIS [New Poultry Inspection System] to petition the agency for increased line speeds, if they maintain a record of process control,” said Mike Brown, the trade group president. “That was the original intent of the petition, and we look forward to working with the agency and our members on the soon-to-be-released criteria to apply for such a request.”
The NPIS gives processors more responsibility for identifying diseased birds and removing them from the processing line, while USDA inspectors focus more on spotting bacterial contamination that could cause illness.