010379 Federal Inspectors Probe NY City Meat

Washington - Special inspectors from Nebraska who began just this week examining meat plants in New York City already have shut down three of the 15 facilities they looked at, the Agriculture Department told a U.S. Senate committee.

Outside inspectors were called in amid widespread allegations of safety lapses, mismanagement and possible criminal misconduct in enforcing meat safety regulations in the New York area. Their investigation is continuing.

The three plants had their marks of inspection withheld, which means they could reopen if they correct whatever problems were found, said Food Safety and Inspection Service Administrator Thomas Billy.

Billy would not say which plants were closed or what infractions were found.

(INSIGHTS NOTE: The three plants were Plymouth Beef, at 415 West 14th Street in the meatpacking district in Manhattan; Real Kosher Sausage, at 15 Rivington Street in Lower Manhattan; and Park Avenue Meats, at 4047 Park Avenue in the Bronx. ALL of the violations were considered “minor” and easily corrected. None of the plants expected to be out of service for more than a day ot two.)

Federal investigators began looking in August into a wide array of problems in New York meat inspection operations. Among them are allegations that local inspectors in New York City did not show up for work, which allowed some plants to operate without proper inspection.

In one case, a meat market in Manhattan had a refrigeration failure, and about 100 pounds of beef and chicken wings were spoiled and had to be discarded.

Roger Viadero, the Agriculture Department's inspector general, said when his staff arrived at the scene to investigate the outage, only “one apparently drunk” local inspector was on the scene.

No charges have been filed, but Viadero said at least 10 investigations are under way into New York's meat inspection, one involving the FBI . The Senate Agriculture Committee is investigating the possibility of that officials of remiss companies retaliated against whistle-blowers who reported failings in inspections.

“If charges are accurate, mismanagement and alleged illegal activity may have increased food poisoning risks” for the public, committee chairman Richard Lugar, R-Ind., said Thursday. “The USDA must fix these problems before food safety confidence is lost.”

Billy assured lawmakers he has no evidence that tainted meat was passed to consumers. “But to be perfectly honest, I'm outraged this even occurred,” Billy said.

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