Coalition Urges USDA to Withdraw Poultry Slaughter Proposal Due to Food Safety, Worker Safety Concerns

A coalition of 23 groups and 16 individuals today urged the Department of Agriculture to withdraw a proposal that increases poultry processing line speeds and removes hundreds of federal inspectors from poultry processing plants.

The proposal, which would modify USDA’s poultry slaughter inspection program, increases the poultry line speed to an unsafe level and allows plant employees to replace federal government inspectors for certain inspection activities. In addition, the proposal reduces the numbers of federal inspectors working at poultry plants. While the poultry inspection program does need improving, the proposal was developed with limited public input. USDA did not consult with its inspection advisory committee prior to issuing its proposal; nor were public meetings held to solicit the views of the public before the proposal was announced.  In addition, the groups highlighted a number of critical food safety and worker safety concerns raised by the proposal.

Specifically, the coalition is alarmed by the proposed increase in poultry slaughter line speeds to 175 birds per minute, a five-fold increase over current speeds. At such rates, government inspectors would have only one-third of a second to examine each chicken carcass for food safety risks and other problems. Further, increased line speeds would contribute to higher rates of carpal tunnel syndrome and other repetitive motion injuries among poultry plant workers.

The coalition is also concerned that the proposal would change the standards for accepting or rejecting birds. There is no provision in the new rule mandating training of plant employees, who would be assigned tasks previously conducted by federal government inspectors. USDA whistleblowers have commented that plant workers with insufficient training often overlook things.  Moreover,employers might pressure plant employees to let as many birds pass as possible. As a result, there would likely be an increase in the rate of “defects” such as bruises, scabs, bile and ingesta on the carcasses.

Finally, the coalition is concerned that the proposal does not require a standard for testing of poultry. Instead, the proposal would allow each plant to develop its own testing protocol. Plants would also not be required to test for Salmonella or Campylobacter, the two foodborne pathogens most often associated with raw poultry.

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there has been no significant progress since 1999 in reducing illnesses from Salmonella and Campylobacter. Salmonella is the leading cause of death and hospitalization due to a known foodborne pathogen.  A 2011 report from the University of Florida found that Campylobacter in poultry led the list of pathogen/food combinations that account for 60% of all foodborne illnesses.

The coalition is urging the Department of Agriculture to withdraw the proposal until these issues and others can be adequately addressed.

The letter was signed by the following groups and individuals:

AFL-CIO; American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO; CATA, El Comite de Apoyo a los Trabajadores Agricolas; Center for Food Safety; Center for Foodborne Illness Research & Prevention; Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, Inc.; Consumer Federation of America; Center for Science in the Public Interest; Food & Water Watch; Government Accountability Project; Midwest Coalition for Human Rights; National Consumers League; National Council of La Raza (NCLR); National Council for Occupational Safety and Health; National Employment Law Project; Nebraska Appleseed Center for Law in the Public Interest; OMB Watch; Public Citizen; Southern Poverty Law Center; STOP Foodborne Illness; United Support and Memorial for Workplace Fatalities; U.S. PIRG; Worksafe

Consumer Groups Urge USDA to Withdraw Poultry Slaughter Proposal — Food Poisoning Bulletin

Consumer Groups Urge USDA to Withdraw Poultry Slaughter Proposal — Food Poisoning Bulletin

A coalition of 23 consumer, labor, public health, and civil rights groups have sent a letter to Secretary Tom Vilsack. They are urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to withdraw its proposal that increases poultry processing line speeds and removes hundreds of federal inspectors from poultry processing plants. That proposal, called HACCP-based Inspection Models Project (HIMP) has been criticized by many consumer groups.

The letter states that USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) developed the proposal with limited input and did not consult with its inspection advisory committee. The agency did also not hold public meetings on this issue, unlike previous agency proposals. The coalition has several concerns with this proposal.

Line speed increases are a concern, since they will “likely exacerbate food safety and worker safety issues,” according to the letter. Current line speeds are 35 birds per minute per inspector. The proposed new number is 175 chicken carcasses per minute, with only a single inspector on the slaughter line. That would give that lone inspector 1/3 of a second to examine each carcass for food safety issues. In addition, that line speed will most likely increase the “unacceptably high levels of injuries in the poultry processing industry.” OSHA was not consulted in the development of this proposal.

The groups also claim that the proposed rule will not yield the benefits claimed. According to data from the CDC, there has been no significant progress reducing illnesses from Salmonella and Campylobacter on poultry since 1999. The USDA itself admits to an “ambiguous” impact on reducing Campylobacter infections. HIMP will also not require plants to test for those two pathogens, but will let each plant design its own testing plan.

The proposal will also increase the rates of “defects” on birds, including blisters, bruises, scabs, feathers, bile, ingesta, and poultry-specific diseases. The facility would make subjective decisions on the appropriate level of these defects in the birds it processes.

Finally, the proposal will not require plant employees to be trained on the new rules. Training requirements are essential to assure that sorting procedures are properly performed. USDA whistleblowers have commented that plant workers with insufficient training often overlook things, and employers have a vested interest in processing as many birds as possible, according to Chris Waldrop, director of the Consumer Federation of America.

The letter is signed by the AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, Center for Food SAfety, Consumer Federation of America, Center for Foodborne ILlness Research and Prevention, Food & Water Watch, Center for Science in the Public Interest, STOP Foodborne Illness, and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Individuals who signed the letter include Barbara Frey, Director of the Human Rights Program at the University of Minnesota, Dr. Celeste Monforton of George Washington University, and Sidney Shapiro, University Chair in Law at Wake Forest University.

— by Kathy Will, Food Poisoning Bulletin

ONE DAY LEFT TO SIGN WHITE HOUSE PETITION

We have one day left to acquire the 25,000 signatures needed to prompt a White House reply on our request for the USDA to drop its plan to overhaul the nation’s poultry inspection rules.

If you think the chicken you eat should be carefully examined by trained federal inspectors, then please take a minute out of your day to sign the petition.

More than 17,000 concerned consumers have already signed the petition, but we must reach the 25,000 mark to force a White House response. Please sign today!

WHAT THE CLUCK?!?

IMPORTANT: This information should not be downloaded using government equipment, read during duty time, or sent to others using government equipment, because it suggests action to be taken in support of and/or against legislation. Do not list your government email or government address in filling out this message, and do not use a government provided phone for this action.

The following message is from Bob Nicklas, director of the American Federation of  Government Employee’s Political Action Committee and Issues Mobilization Department:

If we can get 10,504 more signatures before June 1, the Obama Administration will be forced to issue a response to our We the People petition to keep dirty, unsafe chicken off of your kitchen table and stop the USDA from cutting the jobs of over 800 AFGE chicken inspectors. But time is running out and unless the proposed rules are changed, this is what you could be eating for your next dinner:

If you’ve already taken action, thank you and please forward this email to everyone you know who eats chicken! If you haven’t signed our We the People petition yet, here’s what we need you to do:

• Visit our We the People petition page here.

• If you have an account, sign-in and sign the petition.

• If you don’t have an account, just click this button and enter your information. This does not mean the White House will start emailing you:

• You’ll then be taken back to the petition to sign, or you can follow our link in step 1.

The USDA is considering this pilot program to eliminate federal inspection and mandatory training simply to allow private poultry processing plants to do whatever they can to save a buck.

This won’t take more than 5 minutes, but your signature will help ensure that President Obama hears about the threat to clean food on our dinner tables.

TELL THE WHITE HOUSE TO DROP USDA’S POULTRY PLAN

IMPORTANT: This information should not be downloaded using government equipment, read during duty time, or sent to others using government equipment, because it suggests action to be taken in support of and/or against legislation. Do not list your government email or government address in filling out this message, and do not use a government provided phone for this action.

 

AFGE and consumer groups deliver petitions to the USDA on April 26.

Last week, AFGE and other concerned consumer groups delivered 150,000 signatures to the U.S. Department of Agriculture protesting the agency’s proposal to dismantle the current poultry inspections process. Under the USDA’s plan, private poultry processing plants would be put in charge of regulating themselves, while a single federal inspector would have literally one second to review three chickens to make sure they are free of diseases, feathers, tumors, bile or other contaminants.

There is no way even the most highly trained federal inspector can perform an thorough inspection of chickens and turkeys under this plan. That’s why we’re asking the White House to intervene.

A new petition on the White House’s “We the People” website asks the USDA to withdraw this proposed rule. If we can get 25,000 signatures, the Obama administration has pledged to issue a personal response.

But time is of the essence. The deadline to issue official comments on the proposed rule is May 29, so we need to trigger the White House response before May 29.

Click here to go directly to the petition. It only takes a minute out of your day, and it can literally save your life.

POULTRY RULE PITS VILSACK VS. VILSACK

Congressional candidate Christie Vilsack, who is the wife of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, has come out against USDA’s controversial poultry inspection plan.

Consumer advocacy group Food & Water Watch and the American Federation of Government Employee’s National Joint Council of Food Inspection Local Unions led a rally today outside the Democratic candidate’s campaign headquarters in Ames, Iowa. Participants demanded that Mrs. Vilsack stand up for food safety and oppose the USDA’s proposed privatized poultry inspection program.

 In response to the event, Vilsack released a statement voicing her concern with the proposal:

“…we should not privatize jobs. There are inherent concerns with allowing companies to inspect themselves, especially with an increase in line speeds that could make inspection more difficult and raise safety issues.”

The proposal to replace 800 independent, trained USDA inspectors with company employees who do not have to be trained, and increase line speeds at poultry slaughter facilities as fast as 3 birds per second, has received widespread public criticism and national media attention, including an April 18 ABC World News investigation. In response, USDA has extended the public comment period until May 26.

“The voters who will determine whether or not Christie Vilsack gets elected deserve to know what her position is on this proposal that could put public health and worker safety at risk,” said Matt Ohloff, Iowa organizer for Food & Water Watch. “We are calling on candidate Christie Vilsack to oppose this rule and demand that it be withdrawn.”

The USDA has been conducting a pilot project of the proposed model in two-dozen poultry facilities for the past 14 years. Food & Water Watch analyzed 5,000 pages of government data, which showed that company employees miss many of the food safety and wholesomeness defects on slaughtered birds. Additionally, government data shows that levels of salmonella in the pilot project plants are higher than in comparable plants not participating in the pilot. In 2002, when USDA decided to proceed with a continuation of the pilot project, Senator Tom Harkin wrote that the project “makes no sense” and “is a recipe for a food safety disaster.”

“This proposal is a giant leap backwards for protecting the food supply,” said Trent Berhow, Vice Chair of National Joint Council of Food Inspection Locals. “Instead of working to strengthening the government’s hand to combat salmonella and other foodborne pathogens associated with poultry products, the Obama Administration has chosen to reduce inspection and deregulate. This disregard for public health and workers safety is deplorable.”

Federal Times video report on poultry inspection protests

When AFGE and other consumer groups delivered nearly 150,000 petitions to the USDA on April 20, Federal Times videographer Blair Tomlinson was there to capture the delivery. Click on the below link to view the report that she filed.

Poultry Inspection

 

 

Inspection rule pits chicken industry against unions – The Hill’s Healthwatch

Inspection rule pits chicken industry against unions – The Hill’s Healthwatch.

When the USDA first proposed the rule in January, it listed a number of “budgetary effects” for the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), including a reduction of roughly 500 to 800 inspector positions.

 “As a union official, I can’t say I’m not concerned about jobs. I am,” Painter said. “But as an inspector, I am concerned about the product. I want chicken. I still want to eat chicken for Sunday dinner.”

 

Plan to modernize poultry plant inspections draws concern – KansasCity.com

Plan to modernize poultry plant inspections draws concern – KansasCity.com.

“Critically, the change shifts responsibility from USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service staff to slaughterhouse employees. Critics see that as a recipe for putting profits ahead of food safety because companies have built-in incentives to move poultry through the slaughter as quickly as possible.”

 

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/04/24/3574542/poultry-plant-proposal-draws-concern.html#storylink=cpy

CONSUMER GROUPS, FOOD INSPECTORS DELIVER SAFE POULTRY PETITIONS

Nearly 150K petitions delivered served as USDA extends comment period

WASHINGTON (April 20, 2012) – Consumer watchdogs, concerned citizens and federal food inspectors represented by the American Federation of Government Employees today delivered nearly 150,000 petitions to the U.S. Department of Agriculture opposing proposed changes to the poultry inspections process that will impact the health and safety of the American public.

USDA official Sally Liska accepted the petitions on behalf of USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack.

AFGE's chicken waits inside the doorway of the USDA headquarters building in Washington, waiting to deliver 150,000 signed petitions.

The petitions, which were circulated by AFGE and other groups, denounce a regulation proposed by Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) that would partially privatize the poultry inspections process and drastically increase the number of birds federal inspectors must examine.

“Budget cuts are driving the USDA to take this drastic step, which would reduce our highly trained teams of federal food safety inspectors to a skeleton crew who would have to review three birds every second – a humanly impossible task,” AFGE National President John Gage said. “This is a recipe that appears to be putting diseased chickens right on our kitchen tables, and we are urging the USDA to reconsider this foolish and dangerous proposal.”

On Thursday, the day after ABC World News broadcast a story on the controversial proposal, FSIS announced it would extend the comment period on the proposed rule by an additional 30 days. The original deadline was April 26; nearly 600 comments have been submitted on the rule so far.

The USDA proposal would extend nationwide a pilot project that has allowed some poultry companies to inspect their own chickens. But an analysis released last month by the nonprofit Food & Water Watch, which partnered with AFGE on the petition drive, revealed that large numbers of defects are routinely being missed when inspection tasks are performed by company employees instead of USDA inspectors.

In addition, FSIS data obtained by AFGE under the Freedom of Information Act revealed that company inspectors operating under the pilot project remove far fewer diseased birds than federal inspectors operating under the traditional process. At one company, Pilgrim’s Pride, the condemnation rate for diseased birds is twice as high at the traditional plant as compared to the privatized plant.

Delivering petitions today were representatives from AFGE, AFL-CIO, Daily Kos, Food & Water Watch, American Rights at Work and the Government Accountability Project.