Food & Agriculture

CFA, Public Health Advocates Ask USDA for More Food Safety Safeguards Before Lifting Line Speeds

CFA submitted the following letter to USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) along with advocacy partners Food & Water Watch, Center for Food Safety and Stop Foodborne Illness, asking the agency to put the brakes on plans to waive line speed limits at certain hog slaughter facilities. As the groups’ letter explains, higher line speeds raise food safety concerns that should be mitigated by comprehensive microbiological standards and clear measures of accountability for slaughter establishments that receive line speed waivers. The groups’ letter proposes several criteria to apply to establishments seeking to operate at higher line speeds, such as having substantially lower Salmonella positive rates compared to plants of similar size, which would help to ensure that faster operations do not lead to more contamination events that ultimately cause consumers to get sick.