March 19, 2008

 

USDA resists possible overhaul of meat safety system

 

 

The USDA defied recent proposals for a major overhaul of the country's meat and poultry monitoring system, despite a record meat recall this year, saying that the process will not be improved with a mega-agency.

 

Richard Raymond, the department's undersecretary for food safety, said the system would not be improved with a mega-agency since being small is better, quicker, swifter and more nimble.

 

The US congress has lately looked on putting an end to the current decentralized approach to food safety to fix its image which has lately been tarnished with a record recall.

 

The FDA, in particular, has been battered last year by the discovery of dangerous spinach, peanut butter, seafood and other products in the US marketplace.

 

Presently, the USDA regulates meat, poultry and eggs and the Food and Drug Administration oversees everything else.

 

The USDA has been seen as better equipped to safeguard its smaller responsibility over the food supply as it implements more stringent and frequent inspections.

 

However, with the largest recall of beef this year, the USDA's reputation was also tainted along with the meat industry, which has been struggling to rebound from the reports of a meat plant's malpractice to cattle.

 

Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. was exposed earlier this year by the Humane Society of the US, triggering the recall of almost 143 million pounds of meat which were mostly beef.

 

The uptick of foodborne illness such as E. coli has also added to USDA's major concerns.

 

Last year, the department recalled 21 food products, up sharply from 8 in 2006.

 

Some US officials like Connecticut Democrat representative Rosa DeLauro and assistant senate majority leader Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, are advocating for major changes, including a single food safety agency.

 

The US food industry, led by the Grocery Manufacturers Association, which groups retailers like Kellogg Co. and Kraft Foods, wants to expand mandatory standards for companies, yet hopes a significant increase in FDA funding for increased inspections.