A coalition of meat, poultry and egg industry interests recently submitted a letter to the congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, also known as the “Super Committee,” urging it to reject a proposed U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) fiscal year 2012 budget that would impose “user fees” on industry for government-mandated food safety inspection programs. Claiming that the inspection programs have been funded by taxpayers for more than a century, the trade associations contend that “user fees” would affect the price of meat, effectively imposing a regressive tax on low- and middle-income families who “spend a higher portion of their income on food than do wealthier Americans.” The letter does not indicate how government food safety inspections can be maintained if the Super Committee, tasked with making significant reductions in the U.S. deficit, slashes USDA’s budget. Meanwhile, Republican presidential candidate and Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R) reportedly called for…
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The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently delivered its evaluation of how well federal agencies have implemented the nation’s food and agricultural defense policy known as Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD)-9. Established to protect the food supply “against terrorist attacks, major disasters, and other emergencies,” HSPD-9 divides emergency response activities among several agencies, including the Departments of Agriculture (USDA), Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security, the latter of which has designated a system of emergency support functions (ESFs) within a National Response Framework. According to the August 2011 GAO report, however, “There is no centralized coordination to oversee the federal government’s overall progress implementing… HSPD-9.” In testimony before a subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, GAO Natural Resources and Environmental Director Lisa Shames explained that because this general oversight is lacking, the agencies responsible for HSPD-9 cannot guarantee their “cross-cutting” efforts are “well-designed and…
The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has announced the availability of final compliance guidelines for video monitoring at federally inspected establishments, such as meat and poultry plants. The guidelines, which have received Office of Management and Budget approval, stem from a 2008 USDA Office of Inspector General (OIG) recommendation that called for FSIS to determine whether such monitoring would be beneficial for “slaughterhouse establishments.” Additional information about the guidelines appears in Issue 369 of this Update. Although not mandatory, in-plant video monitoring can be used to strengthen food safety and humane animal-handling practices, and to monitor product inventory and building security, according to FSIS. The agency has provided the guide to help those plants choosing this method to create records for maintaining “compliance with [f]ederal regulations, including humane treatment of livestock and the use of good commercial practices in poultry.” It also “provides information on issues establishments should consider…
Wired magazine’s “Superbug” blogger Maryn McKenna recently published an article questioning China’s food safety record after reports surfaced that 11 people from one Xinjiang province village died “and anywhere from 120 to 140 were sickened” by vinegar contaminated with ethylene glycol. According to McKenna, “The vinegar had been stored in barrels that previously contained antifreeze,” although investigators have not yet determined “whether the vinegar was put in the barrels out of ignorance, making it a problem of accidental contamination, or deliberately by an unscrupulous producer seeking to cut corners.” In either case, McKenna warns, the scandal closely follows allegations that “aged” vinegar from Shanxi province is “dosed with industrial acid in order to cut fermentation time and turn out batches faster.” It also adds to a growing roster of China’s food safety problems that purportedly include “the meat that glowed in the dark; the tainted buns; the exploding watermelons; the…
The Consumer Federation of America will hold its 34th Annual National Food Policy Conference on October 3-4, 2011, in Washington, D.C. Topics will include imported food safety, federal legislative priorities, food marketing and social media, and the global food system.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (IG) has issued a June 21, 2011, report criticizing the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) imported food recall guidance as “not adequate to ensure the safety of the nation’s food supply because it was not enforceable.” According to the audit, which covered the period from July 1, 2007, through June 30, 2008, “FDA oversaw 40 Class I recalls of imported food products contaminated with pathogens and other harmful substances that can cause serious illnesses.” After reviewing 17 of those recalls, the IG concluded that firms (i) “did not promptly initiate recalls,” (ii) did not submit viable recall strategies, (iii) “did not issue accurate and complete recall communications to their consignees,”, and (iv) “did not submit timely and complete recall status reports.” The report also faults FDA for the inconsistent application of its own monitoring procedures, including the…
Food & Water Watch has issued a report cautioning that potentially unsafe food from China may likely provide the next food safety scare in the United States. Titled “A Decade of Dangerous Food Imports from China,” the report describes “where [Chinese] food manufacturers are legendary for cutting corners, substituting dangerous ingredients, and compromising safety in order to boost sales.” Noting that U.S. food safety oversight has “not remotely” kept pace with China’s food exports that have tripled over the past decade, the report recommends (i) “revisiting the current trade agenda to make public health, environmental standards and consumer safety the highest priorities”; (ii) “removing agriculture from the WTO” (World Trade Organization), which “has been a failure for U.S. farmers and has encouraged companies to offshore food manufacturing to places like China with low wages and weak regulatory standards, putting consumers around the world at risk”; (iii) “restarting the assessment of…
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has filed a citizen petition “requesting that the administrator of the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) . . . issue an interpretive rule declaring certain delineated strains of antibiotic-resistant [ABR] Salmonella, when found in ground meat and ground poultry, to be adulterants” under federal law. In re: CSPI Petition, No. __ (USDA FSIS, filed May 25, 2011). Noting that FSIS declared E. coli an adulterant in 1994, the petition contends, “Scientific and medical research demonstrates that contamination of meat and poultry by ABR strains of Salmonella poses grave public health dangers that are comparable to those posed by E. coli 0157:H7 in 1994.” According to the petition, several ABR strains in ground meat and poultry products have resulted in recalls, outbreaks and deaths. Seeking expedited review, CSPI claims that 36 documented outbreaks, causing thousands of illnesses and some deaths, were…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has announced two public meetings on a proposed rule requiring mandatory FSIS inspections of imported and domestic catfish and catfish products. The meetings will be held May 24 in Washington, D.C., and May 26 in Stoneville, Mississippi. The proposed rule was highlighted in Issue 383 of this Update. See Federal Register, May 9, 2011.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has published a final rule establishing a new voluntary cooperative program that will permit state-inspected establishments with fewer than 25 employees “to ship meat and poultry products in interstate commerce.” Under the program, which will be administered by state inspectors, selected establishments must comply with all standards under the Federal Meat Inspection Act and Poultry Products Inspection Act to receive the official USDA mark of inspection necessary for interstate commerce. Effective July 1, 2011, the final rule considers approximately 90 separate comments submitted in response to the September 2009 proposed version. “Allowing these state-inspected establishments to ship their products across state lines has the potential to expand rural development and jobs, increase local tax bases, strengthen rural communities, and ensure that food is safe for consumers,” said FSIS Administrator Al Almanza in an April 19, 2011, press release.…
