Obama Administration Updates 50-Year-Old Poultry Plant Inspection Rules

The Obama administration has updated the poultry plant inspection rules in the interests of civic heath, announcing amendments to the 50-year-old rules currently in place. This move will cut down thousands of food-borne illnesses linked to chicken and turkey each year, writes Uncover California.   The new Federal law states that the number of government poultry inspectors will be reduced and the remaining ones will have an increased focus on food safety. The inspectors will thoroughly examine any birds that contain pathogens - and will also check facilities to ensure that they maintain cleanliness standards. The inspector's presence in poultry processing plants is essential to food safety. The inspection of visual defects by many UDSA inspectors does not guarantee that bird's consumption by the people will be pathogen free, writes Uncover California. Many pathogens including salmonella and campylobacter are not visible to the naked eye. New poultry safety rules will educate inspectors how to locate hazards in the plant. Additional testing of pathogens has been made compulsory for all poultry companies whether they support it, or not. USDA proposed the rule in January 2012 but consumer groups, however, criticized the rule as they feared they would be be overloaded with the entire inspection burden. Tom Vilsack, Agricultural Secretary, said in a statement that these changes would allow current scientific techniques to update the inspection system from 1950s into 21st century, writes Uncover California. Salmonella and campylobacter are the top two food-borne pathogens that cause illness in the United States. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that salmonella causes around 1.2 million illnesses in the United States every year, including 450 deaths. The Agriculture Department says the change could cut down on 5,000 food-borne illnesses annually. Wenonah Hauter of the advocacy group Food and Water Watch called it a 'gift from the Obama administration to the industry' while Caroline Smith DeWaal of the Center for Science in the Public Interest said USDA 'missed the boat' on designing a new system and put budget savings ahead of food safety, writes Uncover California. Pakistan Market Subscribe Free Foreign Market News

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