Dear Editor,
In her letter “Letter to the Editor: Industry supporter out of line on line speeds,” (https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2020/11/letter-to-the-editor-industry-supporter-out-of-line-on-line-speeds/) Jessica Chapman offers her ad hominem opinion that I am “an industry supporter whose research is harmful to public health” and mistakenly claims that I based my recent publication
Continue Reading Letter to the Editor: Sound science should reflect relevant data
Dear Editor,
I am submitting this letter in response to Dan Flynn’s earlier piece regarding pork inspection line speeds.
The federal government’s decision to put pork producers in charge of their own food safety inspections — while letting them set the line speeds that inspection workers must follow —
Continue Reading Letter to the Editor: USDA move to outsource inspections is recipe for disaster
Written in response to: Eschewing obfuscation on poultry slaughter line speeds
Let’s be clear and stick to the facts when discussing line speeds in poultry plants. Parsing words and bending facts will have real victims: consumer and worker safety. There is no such thing as just increasing line speeds in
Continue Reading Letter to the Editor: No obfuscation if you keep to the facts
On Jan. 19, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a proposed rule that would lift current caps on line speeds in pork processing plants and reduce federal oversight in these facilities.
The proposed rule is strongly backed by the meatpacking industry, but the fact is that raising line speeds in
Continue Reading Letter to the Editor: USDA should rethink pork line speed plan
Editor’s note: This opinion column offers a differing view from that presented by guest columnist Brian Ronholm in “Eschewing obfuscation on poultry slaughter line speed.”
Poultry slaughter would flunk HACCP 101. The primary hazards from raw poultry are the pathogens Salmonella and Campylobacter spp. FSIS visible poultry inspection
Continue Reading Slaughter practices more significant than poultry line speeds
The key to understanding the complexities in the debate over the line speed issue for poultry production is to recognize that there is a distinct difference between the line speed for slaughter and the line speed for processing in a facility. While slaughter line speed is currently limited to 140
Continue Reading Eschewing obfuscation on poultry slaughter line speed
Every hour of every day people around the world are living with and working to resolve food safety issues. Here is a sampling of current headlines for your consumption, brought to you today with the support of Alchemy Systems.
Food Safety Summit discount deadline
Focusing on the importance of
Continue Reading Briefly: Whoa, chicken — Summit discounts — Bakers fined
John Howard, director of the CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), is concerned that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) has misinterpreted the findings of a recent study evaluating worker safety at poultry-processing plants. At the request of FSIS, NIOSH evaluated the effects
Continue Reading NIOSH Director Says FSIS Administrator Misinterpreted Line-Speed Study
Extended full-time work in the poultry industry does come with the risk of carpal tunnel syndrome and other musculoskeletal disorders and injuries, but line speed does not appear to contribute all that much to the problem, according to a report from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
Continue Reading NIOSH Study: Line Speed Not an Issue in Poultry Inspection Overhaul
Last week, organizations representing consumers and farm workers convened in Washington, D.C., to speak with members of Congress and U.S. Department of Agriculture officials about the threat they feel new poultry plant regulations pose to both plant worker safety and food safety as a whole. The USDA regulations of concern
Continue Reading Debate Grows Over Poultry Worker Safety Under Proposed HIMP Regulations
