Source: Michael Fielding, MEATINGPLACE, 2/2/15


Three current and one retired USDA inspectors are alleging unsafe line speeds at several of the five hog processing facilities that participate in the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) Inspection Models Project (HIMP).

According to affidavits released Friday by the Government Accountability Project (GAP), the inspectors allege that food and worker safety have been compromised as operators have taken on more responsibility for monitoring the processing lines.

"Over the years it has become clear that USDA does not care about collecting  scientifically sound data to justify HIMP," one inspector stated.

Petition targets Hormel
Now the GAP Food Integrity Campaign is petitioning Hormel Foods to reduce processing line speeds at its facilities. One of Hormel’s facilities and one subsidiary location participate in the HIMP pilot program.

In addition to the on-site USDA inspectors, Hormel Foods employees trained to the standards of the USDA conduct the additional inspections, Manager of External Communications Rick Williamson told Meatingplace. “We’ve found this allows the USDA inspectors better perspective and more flexibility to monitor activity and identify any issues. Employees have the ability to stop a line if an issue is detected.”

Oversight is more efficient and more effective in plants participating in the HIMP program, said Williamson, who added that “truly the measure of an establishment's performance” is the periodic sampling for microorganisms of concern.

He pointed out that the company’s facilities “consistently meet or perform better than published USDA microbiological performance standards.”

Affidavits don’t mesh with agency findings
The allegations by the inspectors come just two months after USDA gave high marks to the plants in its latest assessment of the project.

In November the agency said the five plants are performing as well as those using the existing inspection system.

USDA compared the HIMP plants to 21 non-HIMP plants that had comparable production volume, line speed and days of slaughter operation, and it determined that the HIMP plants are performing as well “in terms of safety and wholesomeness of hog slaughter and overall consumer protection.”

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