Meat and Poultry Inspection Issues

Publication Date: January 2005

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Agriculture, forestry and fishing

Type:

Abstract:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is responsible for inspecting most meat, poultry, and processed egg products for safety, wholesomeness, and proper labeling. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for ensuring the safety of all other foods, including seafood.

In the early 1990s, food safety officials recognized that most foodborne illness cases traced to meat and poultry products were being caused by naturally occurring microbiological contamination that was not being adequately addressed by the traditional, sight-, smell-, and touch-based system of inspection. Through the federal rule-making process, FSIS developed and initiated the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system at all federally inspected slaughtering and processing plants. HACCP regulations require all firms to implement preventive actions at each point along the manufacturing chain where microbial contamination is likely to occur. FSIS inspectors monitor the performance of firms’ HACCP systems in addition to performing traditional inspection under the existing statutes.

Despite data suggesting HACCP-related reductions in pathogen levels, periodic recalls of very large amounts of product continue to illustrate the difficulty of preventing contamination in processed products. Several bills addressing aspects of this issue were introduced in the 108th Congress, and could resurface in the 109th Congress. These include proposals to give FSIS the authority to (1) mandate recalls of suspected contaminated products; (2) set and enforce performance standards for foodborne pathogens under HACCP; and (3) impose civil penalties for violations of inspection laws and regulations.

In December 2003, USDA announced the first confirmed U.S. case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). On January 12, 2004, FSIS published interim rules banning potentially higher BSE-risk cattle parts and non-ambulatory (“downer”) cattle from food, prohibiting the labeling as “meat” of mechanically removed muscle tissue; and banning a form of pre-slaughter stunning that can potentially spread infective brain and nervous system tissue into the meat.

Since January 12, any carcass tested for BSE must be held until negative results are received. In June 2004, USDA began a 12-18 month program to test 200,000-268,000 cattle for BSE (compared with 20,000 in 2003).

The Administration has been criticized for its handling of some aspects of the BSE situation. For example, USDA officials acknowledged last year that they had failed to follow proper rulemaking procedures in readmitting certain types of beef from Canada, which reported its own BSE cases in early 2003 and late 2004. Final rules to permit younger Canadian live cattle and additional types of Canadian beef to enter the United States were published by USDA in the January 4, 2005, Federal Register.

The FY2005 agriculture appropriation (Division A of H.R. 4818; P.L. 108-447) provides $823.8 million for FSIS. Congressional deliberations on the FY2006 FSIS budget are expected to begin in February with submission of the Administration’s budget proposal.