Food & Water Watch (FWW) filed a lawsuit against the Department of Agriculture on Thursday that would stop the implementation of the agency’s New Poultry Inspection System (NPIS). The new poultry inspection rule, announced July 31, requires additional microbiological testing at all poultry processing facilities and introduces a fifth inspection system available for U.S.…
A Victory for Activism: Worker Safety and Line Speed
The Modernization of Poultry Slaughter Inspection final rule moved forward like a dog digging under a fence. While concerned activist groups certainly have issues yet to be resolved, there is a huge victory for plant workers’ and consumers’ safety within the final version of the rule. Line speed. 
I have said all along that line…
Reactions Vary to USDA’s Poultry Inspection Rule
The U.S. Department of Agriculture published the final rule of its Modernization of Poultry Slaughter Inspection on Thursday, requiring all poultry processing plants to engage in additional microbiological testing and establishing the New Poultry Inspection System (NPIS), which companies can choose to opt into or not. Predictably, the agency’s move drew reactions from across the…
FSIS Poultry Rule Requires More Pathogen Testing, Introduces Voluntary Inspection System
The new poultry inspection rule announced today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture requires additional microbiological testing at all poultry processing facilities and introduces a fifth inspection system available for U.S. plants to voluntarily adopt. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack called the rule a “longstanding effort” to “modernize our system” and said the agency is confident…
Groups Ask OMB, USDA to Release Revised Poultry Rule for Public Comment
Organizations representing workers and consumers want the Department of Agriculture to follow the Food and Drug Administration’s lead by releasing the revised poultry inspection rule for public comment. Last week, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) submitted a draft final version of its Modernization of Poultry Slaughter Inspection rule to the Office of…
Low-Budget Poultry Inspection – Ready or Not
Now that FSIS is moving forward with the Modernization of Poultry Slaughter Inspection rule, it’s time that all stakeholders face the issues identified in recent months. Standardizing industry training and methods of carcass sorting, worker safety, changing the carcass-by-carcass law, and classifying Salmonella as an adulterant are issues that have not been properly addressed by …
USDA Sends Poultry Inspection Rule to OMB
The U.S. Department of Agriculture submitted a draft final version of its Modernization of Poultry Slaughter Inspection rule to the Office of Management and Budget for review today. The proposal to build on the HACCP Based Models Project (HIMP) has been a controversial one. Critics such as Food & Water Watch are concerned that the…
NIOSH Director Says FSIS Administrator Misinterpreted Line-Speed Study
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 of waivers of line-speed restrictions…
NIOSH Study: Line Speed Not an Issue in Poultry Inspection Overhaul
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). The new report about the…
68 Members of Congress Ask Vilsack to Withdraw Poultry Inspection Rule
A bipartisan group of 68 members of Congress wrote to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Monday, asking him to suspend action on the proposed Modernization of Poultry Slaughter Inspection rule, which is based on the HACCP-Based Inspection Models Project (HIMP). “While we strongly support modernizing our food safety system and making…