Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 10/18/18

In a separate statement of regulatory priorities, USDA on Wednesday noted the breadth of opposition to eliminating the current limits on pork processing line speeds — a central and controversial part of the department's broader proposal to overhaul inspection rules at hog slaughter facilities.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service received over 83,500 public comments on the overhaul, many of which "requested that FSIS withdraw the proposal ... due to the negative effect on animal welfare and worker safety," the department said.

Current rules: Pork plants are limited to processing about 1,100 hogs per hour. Food safety and labor groups have criticized the Trump administration's proposal to do away with that line-speed cap, calling it a threat to worker safety. Injuries in the meat and poultry industry already outnumber those from the manufacturing sector as a whole, and accelerating speeds at meatpacking sites could exacerbate the safety risk.

USDA said the comments will be "analyzed and further addressed in the final rule." The department has previously scaled back efforts to raise line speeds at poultry plants after public blowback.

For now, some opponents of the line-speed changes say they don't see Wednesday's statement as a sign that FSIS might back down on the proposal.