000367 Meat Plant Inspection Cuts Proposed

Washington - Cutting back on inspectors' visits to meat processing plants could save millions of dollars in overtime pay that is borne by the industry, while allowing the government to concentrate on facilities where food is most likely to be contaminated, federal officials say.

Inspectors currently are required to visit each processing plant once a shift, including overtime runs. USDA wants to switch to daily, random checks, starting in a year.

“By having our resources allocated based on risk the public is well served,” Margaret Glavin, associate administrator of USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, said Tuesday.

Critics said the move could imperil public health. “This idea comes out of left field with no data to support it,” said Caroline Smith DeWaal of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. “It's just saving money for the industry.”

Processors, who must cover the inspectors' overtime pay, would save an estimated $19 million a year. The department, which has 7,500 inspectors, would save $4 million, which would be shifted to other food safety programs.

Inspectors, who often work 12-hour shifts, can earn up to $14,000 a year in overtime in addition to their salaries, which average $35,000 to $45,000.

Slaughtering plants, which must have USDA inspectors on site at all times, would not be affected.

Inspections would be reduced at processing plants, including soup canneries, where the risk of contamination is lowest, and focused instead on plants that have a history of problems or are considered to be riskier because of what they process, such as ground beef, the most common source of the deadly E. coli O157:H7.

Several major incidences of food poisoning have been traced to processed meat products in recent years, including a 1998 outbreak at a Michigan hot dog plant that killed 15 people and sickened at least 100 others.

However, overall foodborne illnesses have been dropping, and health officials say the decline is due in part to a new science-based inspection system that is now being used in processing plants nationwide. It requires plants to identify and control for possible contamination rather than relying on federal inspectors to catch problems.

USDA officials say that means their inspectors can be used more effectively in an oversight role. Switching to a random inspection system for processors will make it harder for facilities to hide problems from the government, Glavin said.

“If a plant does not know when an inspector might show up we think there's some deterrent there,” she said.

She acknowledged the reduced inspections will save the plants money but said that was not the purpose.

USDA's inspectors union is opposed to the reduction as well as a pilot project at several slaughtering plants where inspectors have been pulled off production lines and used to oversee plant employees.

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