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

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.”

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.