Feces, vomit on raw meat a growing risk, say consumer groups

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Feces, vomit on raw meat a growing risk, say consumer

groups

 

By Julie Vorman

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Americans face a growing risk

of eating feces, vomit and metal shards in meat and

poultry because the US Agriculture Department is

allowing companies to perform more of their own food

safety inspections, two consumer groups and a labor

union say.

 

Their survey of 451 federal inspectors showed many

were concerned that too much contaminated meat and

poultry was slipping through company production lines

under the government's new food safety procedures. The

451 respondents represent about six percent of all

federal meat inspectors.

 

Public Citizen, the Government Accountability Project

and the American Federation of Government Employees

said the USDA's decision to give plants more

responsibility for safety will unravel public health

gains made since author Upton Sinclair documented

grisly slaughterhouse conditions in ``The Jungle.''

 

The USDA contends that its data shows the new meat

inspection procedures give consumers more protection

against microscopic diseases such as E. coli 0157:H7

and salmonella. The activist groups disagree.

 

``Our survey warns consumers that on a good day, their

meat and poultry are inspected under an industry honor

system,'' Felicia Nestor, food safety director for the

Government Accountability Project, told reporters

Tuesday at a news conference.

 

``Federal inspectors check paperwork, not food, and

are prohibited from removing feces and other

contaminants before products are stamped with the

purple USDA seal of approval,'' she added.

 

Frequent Contamination Spotted

 

Some 206 meat inspectors who responded to the survey

said there were weekly or monthly instances when they

did not take direct action against animal feces,

vomit, metal shards or other contamination because of

the new USDA rules.

 

At issue is the USDA's broad policy shift in 1996 to

require the owners of slaughter plants to adopt a

series of food safety checkpoints and to perform

scientific tests for microscopic bacteria to confirm

that meat and poultry is safe.

 

That approach has meant the redeployment of USDA

inspectors in an experiment at some three dozen

slaughter plants. Instead of physically examining

carcasses on the production line - a technique known

as ``poke and sniff'' -- they now scrutinize company

paperwork and test results.

 

``It sounds to us, as a union, like this is designed

to eliminate inspection and they are reducing numbers

gradually,'' said Arthur Hughes, president of the

Northeast Council of Food Inspection Locals.

 

The government's pilot program was successfully

challenged in court by the American Federation of

Government Employees, which represents many of the

7,500 meat inspectors. A federal appeals court ruled

in June that the nearly century-old law requires the

physical inspection of cattle, pig, chicken and other

meat carcasses by USDA employees.

 

The court ruling came after the USDA's own office of

inspector general, an independent investigative arm of

the department, issued a 400-page report that urged

tighter rules for all meat and poultry plants to

protect consumers.

 

Last week, the USDA offered to station an inspector on

the production line at pilot plants specifically to

watch for contamination problems. The inspectors union

said that was not enough to fix the problems with

safety procedures.

 

Usda Says Survey Not Credible

 

USDA officials criticized the survey as flawed and

reflecting the desire of a small number of inspectors

to block more scientific food safety techniques.''Our

meat and poultry products are safer than they have

ever been,'' Tom Billy, administrator of the USDA's

Food Safety and Inspection Service, said in an

interview.

 

``If that (survey results) were true, why are

companies challenging us in court on our salmonella

performance standards,'' Billy added. He was referring

to a bitter court battle between the USDA and

Texas-based Supreme Beef Inc. over federal

requirements that a beef processing plant meet

salmonella test standards.

 

Under the 1996 food safety changes, federal inspectors

who spot contaminated meat or poultry cannot

immediately pull the product but must follow it

through to the end of the production line to see if

plant safety checkpoints catch it. If the checkpoints

do not halt the tainted product, USDA inspectors must

step in and seize it, he said.

 

In an instance like that, a plant would be written up

for having inadequate safety procedures, Billy said.

 

``An inspector who allows any adulterated product to

the leave the plant is failing to do his or her job,''

Billy said.

 

Physical inspection of every carcass is difficult with

production lines typically moving 85 to 140 birds per

minute through a poultry plant.

 

Meat and poultry companies insist it is in their own

best interests to avoid food safety shortcuts.

 

By some estimates, the 1993 outbreak of deadly E. coli

0157:H7 in hamburgers sold by a Jack in the Box

restaurant cost the company close to $1 billion in

lawsuits, hospital costs and lost sales.

 

Dane Bernard, a vice president of the National Food

Processors Association, said the new survey was based

on a small sample of inspectors but that USDA should

examine the results to identify possible ways of

improving its policies.

 

``We're in the early stages of building a new food

safety inspection system,'' Bernard said. ``We see the

concern over union jobs being behind a lot of this

battle.''

 

 

 

 

 

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