- USDA Inspectors - Meat Safety Is Threatened
- By Gillian Flaccus
- 2-23-8
-
- (AP) -- Sometimes, government inspectors responsible
for examining slaughterhouse cattle for mad cow disease and other ills
are so short-staffed that they find themselves peering down from catwalks
at hundreds of animals at once, looking for such telltale signs as droopy
ears, stumbling gait, and facial paralysis. The ranks of inspectors are
so thin that slaughterhouse workers often figure out when "surprise"
visits are about to take place, and make sure they are on their best behavior.
-
- These allegations were raised by former and current US
Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspectors in the wake of the biggest
beef recall in history -- 143 million pounds [about 65 000 tons) from a
California meatpacker accused of sending lame "downer" cows to
slaughter.
-
- The inspectors told The Associated Press that they fear
chronic staff shortages in their ranks are allowing sick cows to get into
the nation's food supply, endangering the public. According to USDA's own
figures, the inspector ranks nationwide had vacancy rates of 10 percent
or more in 2006-07. "They're not covering all their bases. There's
a possibility that something could go through because you don't have the
manpower to check everything," said Lester Friedlander, a former USDA
veterinary inspector at a plant in Wyalusing, Pennsylvania.
-
- Amanda Eamich, a spokeswoman for the USDA's Food Safety
and Inspection Service (FSIS), acknowledged that the department has been
struggling to fill vacancies but denied the food supply is at risk. "Every
single animal must past antemortem inspection before it's presented for
slaughter, so only healthy animals are going to pass," she said. "We
do have continuous inspection at slaughter facilities." ... Wayne
Pacelle, the Humane Society's president and chief executive, said the video
was filmed over a 6-week period last fall [2007] and all the abuse happened
when USDA inspectors were not present. "The inspection system obviously
has enormous gaps if these routine abuses could happen," he said.
"The inspector would show up and if there were downed animals, the
workers would try to get them up before the inspectors got there."
-
- Generally, downer cows -- those too sickly to stand,
even with coaxing -- are banned from the food supply under federal regulations.
Downer cows carry a higher risk of mad cow disease. And because sickly
animals typically wallow in feces and have weakened immune systems, downer
cows are more likely to carry _E. coli_ and _Salmonella_, too. Veterinary
inspector looks for such symptoms as an unsteady gait, swollen lymph nodes,
sores, and poor muscle tone. ... Inspectors whose job is to make sure that
the cattle are treated humanely said staff shortages mean they are forced
to adopt routine hours for their checks, removing the element of surprise.
USDA numbers show anywhere between 10 and 12 percent of inspector and veterinarian
positions at poultry, beef, and pork slaughterhouses nationwide were vacant
between October 2006 and September 2007. In some regions, including Colorado
and Texas, a major beef-producing state, the rate hovered around 15 percent.
In New York, vacancy rates hit nearly 22 percent last July [2007]. ...
At 2 packing houses in Nebraska, veterinarians monitor up to 700 head of
cattle at a time for signs of illness -- just enough to make sure all the
cows are standing, said one veteran inspector who spoke on condition of
anonymity for fear of losing his job. The inspector has worked for 15 years
as an inspector at 2 plants in Lexington and Grand Island, Nebraska One-quarter
of the inspection positions at one of his plants have been vacant now for
2 years, he said. "There are so many vet shortages out in the field
right now, they can't keep it properly staffed," the inspector said.
"When they come into these big slaughter facilities, they'll put 200
head in a pen. All you can tell is they're moving."
-
- Friedlander, who left the USDA in 1995, said he recalled
checking up to 220 cows an hour by standing on a catwalk above a pen of
hundreds of animals. He would also check to see if cows could walk by having
workers drive them from one pen to another, 6 or 7 cows abreast. "If
you're a vet, you see the 1st cow, you might see the 2nd cow, but the 4th,
5th, 6th, 7th cow you might not see," he said. "How can we tell
if there's any facial paralysis or droopy ears? You can't tell."
-
- http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ib5V7z9A-ocCTOvoaRCq9Ohbl9SAD8UV0AL81
-
-
-
- Communicated by
- ProMED-mail
- <mailto:promed@promedmail.org>promed@promedmail.org
-
- NIAA Condemns Bad Animal Handling
-
- CattleNetwork.com
-
- 2-24-8
-
- The National Institute for Animal Agriculture (NIAA)
condemns the downed animal treatment shown on a video reportedly taken
at a packing company in California. Related to the same incident, NIAA
applauds action taken to make involved workers responsible for their actions
by charging them with felony and misdemeanor counts.
-
- "The abuse recorded is an isolated incident and
is not common practice within animal agriculture. NIAA stands for responsible
treatment of livestock and therefore does not condone this incident,"
Scott Stuart, Chairman of NIAA, states. "We urge the USDA to fully
investigate the downed animal incident and the undercover investigation.
In addition, NIAA recommends that animal agriculture immediately report
violations of food safety regulations and inhumane treatment of livestock
to appropriate authorities." Stuart points out that the importance
of animal care and well-being in every step of the production chain-is
the focus of NIAA's upcoming annual meeting, 1-3 Apr 2008, in Indianapolis,
Indiana.
-
- http://www.cattlenetwork.com/content.asp?contentid=199184>
-
- Communicated by ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org
-
- One can be sympathetic with the position taken by NIAA
but it is now up to the industry and the USDA (see next report) to transparently
determine how frequent this problem is and to clean it up if necessary.
The Chino downer handling was a nightmare for any viewer. - Mod.MHJ
-
-
- USDA Unsure If CA Plant Only One Using Downers
-
- By Christopher Doering
-
- 2-24-8
-
- (Reuters) -- Days after the largest meat recall in US
history, the head of the Agriculture Department (USDA) said officials are
reviewing why a California plant processed unfit cattle, and that it was
too early to determine whether it was an incident specific to the facility.
The USDA announced on Sunday [17 Feb 2008] that the Hallmark/Westland Meat
Packing Co was recalling 143 million pounds (65 million kilos) of meat,
mostly beef, after plant workers were caught on videotape forcing unfit
cattle into the slaughterhouse.
-
- "We are reviewing our procedures, how we work with
the plant, how our inspectors work, our staffing needs," Agriculture
secretary, Ed Schafer, told reporters at the USDA's annual Outlook Forum.
"And until we find out, we can't assess other plants, and we can't
say ... this is an isolated incident or an ongoing practice."
-
- http://www.theoutlookonline.com/us_world_news/story.php?story_id=N21475172
-
- Communicated by
- ProMED-mail
- promed@promedmail.org
- A Pandora's box has been opened with this video but I
expect that
- much good will come from it once the initial embarrassments
are
- behind us. - Mod.MHJ
- Patricia A. Doyle DVM, PhD
- Bus Admin, Tropical Agricultural Economics
- Univ of West Indies
-
- Please visit my "Emerging Diseases" message
board at:
- http://www.emergingdisease.org/phpbb/index.php
- Also my new website:
- http://drpdoyle.tripod.com/
- Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa
- Go with God and in Good Health
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