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House committee urges USDA to finalize modernized poultry inspection
Story Date: 6/14/2013
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Source: Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE, 6/14/13
The House Appropriations Committee adopted on Thursday an amendment urging the USDA to finalize its proposed rule to modernize poultry inspection.
The amendment, offered by Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), passed by voice vote with a bipartisan majority, according to a news release issued by the National Chicken Council.
“Rep. Kingston and the members of the committee from both sides of the aisle are to be commended for their support of modernizing a poultry inspection system that has been in place since 1957,” National Chicken Council President Mike Brown said in the release. “In an effort to continue our progress towards reducing foodborne illnesses, we believe, and the committee recognizes, that the poultry inspection system should be modernized to transition to a model that is more science and risk-based.”
A pilot program testing this system was implemented in 1999 in 20 chicken plants and has been studied extensively to assure its effectiveness.
A copy of the text of the committee’s amendment is as follows:
“The Committee notes that the current poultry slaughter inspection system has been in place since 1957. On January 27, 2012, USDA proposed a science-based rule that would begin to replace this outdated approach, and replace it with one that is based on pathogen reduction and control. USDA inspectors would monitor establishment process controls in removing diseased birds, ensure compliance with Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point plans and Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures, conduct ante mortem inspection, and collect samples for pathogen testing. On-line inspectors will still conduct carcass-by-carcass inspection to ensure that diseased carcasses are condemned by establishment workers according to regulatory requirements. The Committee believes that implementation of this system, that has been tested over ten years, will lead to a reduction of pathogens in poultry and a corresponding reduction in foodborne illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths. The Committee urges the Department to finalize this rule.”
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