000543 Supreme Beef Statement on Victory vs. USDAMay 28, 2000Dallas, TX - The following is a statement by Steven F. Spiritas, President and Chief Executive Officer of Supreme Beef Processors, Inc., reacting to the summary judgment ruling in favor of Supreme Beef by Federal District Court Judge A. Joe Fish in the company's case against the U.S. Department of Agriculture: “We are very pleased with Judge Fish's ruling. This decision confirms what we have said from the very beginning, that USDA's use of the Salmonella test to determine the sanitary condition of the processor plant is flawed and outside the scope of USDA's authority. “As became clear during the months of legal wrangling, this case was not really about food safety but about a bad policy. With this victory, we look forward to continuing to focus on providing our customers with the safe, wholesome, high quality meat products that they have enjoyed for the past 30 years. “Except for our concerns about USDA's improper enforcement policy, we have strongly supported the new government food safety inspection program, the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point system. We remain committed to our HACCP plan because it is effective in helping locate and correct potential food safety problems. “In light of the court's ruling against the performance standard, we hope USDA will now be willing to sit down with meat processors and consumers and devise a more workable and meaningful policy consistent with HACCP principles. “Judge Fish's ruling is clear and unambiguous. We hope that USDA responds favorably to the court's decision because it is critical that this flawed policy be corrected. This ordeal has been extremely difficult for our company. No one else should be threatened with closure by the government when they are performing, as we were, in full compliance with their HACCP plan.”
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