020603 New Steps to Prevent Food Tampering

Washington - Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman will urge U.S. meat, poultry and egg plants to seal shipments and take other steps to protect the nation's food supply from deliberate contamination, industry officials said.

Since the deadly Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the USDA has urged all meat and poultry plants to be on heightened alert for potential food tampering.

The department has prepared a set of food safety guidelines that detail how plants should manage their security, production, workers, transportation and storage. The six-page guidelines, which USDA plans to provide to all of its meat inspectors, are not mandatory.

The only known deliberate attack involving U.S. food occurred in the 1980s, when an Oregon cult contaminated salad bars with salmonella.

Veneman is expected to formally announce the guidelines when she travels to Detroit on Thursday, an industry official said. During a two-day trip, she will also visit Virginia, Colorado, Kansas and California.

USDA said Veneman will also detail how the agency plans to use the $328 million recently appropriated by Congress to improve food and farm safety.

During a Senate hearing in late April, Sen. Robert Byrd, a West Virginia Democrat, criticized Veneman for not being able to explain how the proposed extra funds would be spent.

Kevin Herglotz, USDA spokesman, said the guidelines were not the reason for Veneman's trip since they were already presented to industry groups earlier this month.

The U.S. food industry said it welcomed the USDA's biosecurity measures, which are similar to procedures already in place at most large companies.

The USDA guidelines urged food companies to:

* Seal all outgoing food shipments with tamper-proof, numbered seals that are included on the shipping documents.

* Create a food security management team and coordinator for each plant or company.

* Develop a plan for notifying the police of threats, responding to actual product tampering and evacuating a facility if necessary.

* Conduct food security drills periodically.

* Adopt procedures to trace the source of all raw materials, and to trace the delivery points of all finished products.

* Use guards, alarms, cameras or other security hardware on doors, windows, roof openings, railcars, bulk storage tanks and trailers.

* Maintain a current list of plant workers with access to the building.

* Control entry to a plant by requiring photo IDs and sign-in procedures.

* Prepare a daily inventory of hazardous chemicals at the plant and investigate any missing items immediately.

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