A-two year-old federal lawsuit brought by three non-governmental organizations claims USDA’s New Swine Inspection System undermines federal inspectors charged with protecting consumers from foodborne illness.
A federal judge in California has found “the matter suitable for disposition without oral argument.”
The Center for Food Safety, Food & Water Watch, and
Continue Reading For now, only written arguments will be allowed to decide case on new swine inspection system
By her actions, it sure looks like federal Judge Joan N. Ericksen is fiercely defending her decision to slow line speeds for slaughtering market hogs.
Her ruling, which takes effect next week, is on appeal in the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court in St. Louis. Ericksen stayed her own decision after
Continue Reading Next week, they slow the bacon making while line speed appeal goes forward
In 2020, the food and employee safety issue known as line speed became a cause celeb, cited by the union and other activist groups in all sorts of ways. It seemed to come up in all sorts of venues including congressional legislation.
A federal judge in St. Paul struck
Continue Reading Letter from The Editor: Pork producers strike back
For the past quarter-century, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has run two options for inspecting hogs. The HACCP-based Inspection Model Project or HIMP evolved into the New Swine Inspection System or NSIS pilot in 2014. And HIMP, or NSIS, have grown up alongside traditional hog inspection protocols used for
Continue Reading Dueling inspection systems produce another round of competing data
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) report on USDA’s recent rulemaking for the Modernization of Swine Slaughter Inspection did not find much to concern USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).
“We determined whether FSIS,” the OIG report says, “with respect to its worker safety analysis section of the proposed
Continue Reading FSIS gains some in push back with OIG over process audit for new swine slaughter rule
The USDA has until Friday to submit final written arguments in a federal court in New York for dismissing a third challenge to the New Swine Inspection System (NSIS).
Federal courts in Minnesota and California are also considering similar challenges to the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) new
Continue Reading A third federal district court is mulling over the New Swine Inspection System
The USDA by April 15 will ask a federal court in California to dismiss a second lawsuit filed to overturn the Food Safety and Inspection Service’s (FSIS’s) new inspection system for market hogs. USDA earlier asked a federal court in Minnesota to toss a similar civil action.
In Minnesota, a
Continue Reading Federal court in California will hear oral arguments in USDA motion to dismiss swine lawsuit
The unions are down to one issue with the USDA about new inspection protocols for market hogs, and it is not food safety. After tossing out challenges to how USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service assigns inspectors, federal Judge Joan N. Ericksen agreed to hear the “line speed” issue.
Ericksen
Continue Reading USDA gets all but the line speed issue thrown out of court
Dear Editor,
As a former CFIA ( Canadian Food Inspection Agency) inspector, I have been following this story regarding the change in inspections on the hog plants with great interest. Change is hard but it doesn’t mean the job is eliminated. For the hog program to have the plant
Continue Reading Letter to the Editor: Swine inspections from the Canadian perspective
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
