Food & Agriculture

Safe Food Coalition Asks USDA to Reconsider “Equivalency” of Brazilian Meat Inspection System

In a letter to Acting Deputy Secretary of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Michael Young, the Safe Food Coalition condemns the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service’s (FSIS) response to reports of an investigation uncovering widespread fraud and adulteration of products by Brazilian meatpacking processors as inadequate. While major US trading partners have subsequently issued partial or total bans on meat products from Brazil, FSIS has taken an alternative response – reinspecting and testing Brazilian meat imports for pathogens – which puts American consumers at risk and wastes taxpayer dollars.