The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is proposing reforms to poultry inspection that it claims will save taxpayer money and lower costs for producers.
The USDA has announced plans to focus chicken and turkey safety inspections on process and prevention and scale back direct inspection of carcasses on the production line.
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It says the move will save taxpayers more than US$90m over three years and lower production costs by more than $256m annually, as well as improve food safety. The agency cites data it has collected that suggests that “offline” inspection activities are more effective in improving food safety.
“The modernisation plan will protect public health, improve the efficiency of poultry inspections in the US and reduce spending,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
“The new inspection system will reduce the risk of food-bourne illness by focusing inspection activities on those tasks that advance our core mission of food safety. By revising current procedures and removing outdated regulatory requirements that do not help combat food-bourne illness, the result will be a more efficient and effective use of taxpayer dollars.”
However, a consumer group has criticised the cost-cutting measure, claiming bird inspection should be the responsibility of the federal government, not the private sector.
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By GlobalData“This proposal is unacceptable and violates the department’s legal obligation to protect consumers by inspecting every carcass and every bird produced in USDA-inspected plants,” said Food & Water Watch executive director Wenonah Hauter.
“Handing over food safety inspections to companies to perform themselves is unacceptable. USDA must abandon this plan that puts industry interests above consumer protection.”
The USDA is in the middle of a cost-cutting drive. Earlier this month it announced it will close 259 offices and labs and cut some programmes to save $150m per year.
