March 27, 2008

 

USDA mulling new rule to withhold names of retailers in some recalls

 

 

Under pressure from the food industry, the USDA is considering a proposal not to identify retailers where tainted meat went for sale except in cases of serious health risk, The Associated Press has learned.

 

Had that been the rule in place last month, consumers wouldn't have been told if their supermarkets sold meat from a Southern California slaughterhouse that triggered the biggest beef recall in US history.

 

The plan is being considered as the USDA puts the final touches on a proposed disclosure rule. It had lingered in draft form for two years until February, when 143 million pounds of beef were recalled by Hallmark/Westland Meat Co. in Chino, Calif., after undercover video by an animal-rights activist showed workers abusing crippled cows.

 

Agriculture Department spokesman Chris Connelly confirmed Wednesday that the agency is weighing whether to make naming the stores mandatory only for so-called "Class I" recalls, which pose the greatest health hazard. The Chino recall was categorized as "Class II" because authorities determined there was minimal risk to human health.

 

Currently, the government discloses only a recall itself. It does not list which retailers might have received recalled meat.

 

Consumer groups and Democratic lawmakers contended that the public should have access to the names of retailers in all recalls. As originally written, the rule would have applied to all recalls.

 

Partly for competitive reasons, industry groups support the way recalls are currently done, where a description of the recalled product is released by the Agriculture Department's Food Safety and Inspection Service along with some other information including where it was produced.

 

Retailers must remove recalled meat from their shelves, but there's no requirement they notify their customers about meat already sold, though some take voluntary steps to do so.

 

Consumers may be able to identify prepackaged foods like hot dogs that the Agriculture Department mentions by brand name, but with ground beef or other items that are repackaged at grocery stores, there's usually no identifying information on the package to tell consumers it's a recalled item.

 

That's what has led consumer groups to argue that customers need more information, a position shared by Dr. Richard Raymond, USDA's undersecretary for food safety.

 

In an interview this week Raymond, said that it was "common sense to assume" that some consumers may have fallen ill because they didn't have access to names of retailers selling tainted meat. But he disputed the suggestion that industry opposition has stalled the rule.

 

"It's going through the normal process. It does unfortunately take a long time to go through the normal process." Raymond said.

 

Industry groups argue that even if just Class I recalls are covered, the rule could create confusion for consumers since retailer lists could be incomplete or take days or weeks to compile. Customers could have a false sense of security if their grocery store does not immediately show up on the list, the groups contend.

 

Some cite the example of California, which is unique among states in having a law requiring disclosure of retailers' names in recalls. California's list of retailers from the Hallmark/Westland recall is 147 pages long and has been continuously updated.

 

"We've met with USDA numerous times to be sure that they understand our goal, which is to be sure that if a consumer has bought a product that has been recalled we do not want them to eat that food," said Jill Hollingsworth of the Food Marketing Institute in Arlingtonne, Va.

 

But some industry officials also acknowledge competitive concerns, because if lists of retailers selling recalled meat become public, competitors would know who to approach to offer the product at a lower price. "That does cause some issues in the marketplace," said Jeremy Russell, spokesman for the National Meat Association.