Dive Brief:
- Whistleblower nonprofit group Government Accountability Project alleges that a USDA pilot program conducted at five test slaughterhouses could threaten consumer health due to unsafe or unwholesome pigs being approved.
- The USDA and Hormel, however, disagree, saying these plants are more effective at overseeing pork safety due to increased accountability.
- The USDA pilot program lessens one load for USDA inspectors by allowing these test companies to use in-house workers for inspections instead, and in turn, the USDA inspectors can monitor 13 other safety checks.
Dive Insight:
The whistleblower cites several problems with the pilot pork inspection process. With this pilot program, pork processors have managed to increase the pace of the line from an average of 1,100 hogs per hour to an average of 1,300 hogs per hour. The group says that because the processing speeds are up to 20% faster than other plants, this leads to greater health risks for consumers of this pork. Additionally, USDA inspectors' affidavits say that in-house inspectors are usually poorly trained and cannot maintain the swifter pace of the line. This makes it easier for workers to miss flaws in the animals, as seen directly by the inspectors. Joe Ferguson, the only one of the inspectors who wrote an affidavit and released his name, said he wouldn't eat pork from a plant where federal inspectors on the line were significantly reduced, as he had seen.