Everyone would like to have a meat inspection system based on the relative risk to public health from various products.  USDA’s proposal for Risk-Based Inspection (RBI), however, is a fraud.  The Department has no meaningful scientific data to rank product risk and no unbiased system for determining establishment risk.

The USDA’s Inspector General disputes the data that the agency cites saying carcass contamination rates have dropped.

This new Bush Administration program has one motive, to lay the ground for cutting costs of meat inspection in both processing and slaughter.

The Centers for Disease Control FoodNet data show progress against foodborne illness has virtually ended since the Bush Administration took over. The Administration attempts to hoodwink the public about food poisoning by citing progress made in the 1990s, but Campylobacter illness rates have remained the same since 2001.  The rate of Listeriosis was 15% higher in 2005 than three years earlier and the Administration failed to meet the National Health Objective of reducing the rate by half by the end of 2005.

Given the lack of scientific data, implementation of RBI shows reckless disregard for public health. In their zeal to save a few dollars in future years, the Bush Administration is subjecting Americans to an increased risk of illness and death from food poisoning.

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Consumer Federation of America is a non-profit association of over 300 organizations, with a combined membership of over 50 million Americans.  CFA’s Food Policy Institute was created in 1999 and engages in research, education and advocacy on food and agricultural policy, agricultural biotechnology, food safety and nutrition.