Morning Ag Clips logo
  • Subscribe ❯
  • PORTAL ❯
  • LOGIN ❯
  • By Keyword
  • By topic
  • By state
  • Home
  • Events
  • Jobs
  • Store
  • Advertise
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Subscribe to our
    daily email
    ❯
  • Portal Registration❯
  • Login❯
  • policy
  • tractors & machinery
  • education
  • conservation
  • webinars
  • business
  • dairy
  • cattle
  • poultry
  • swine
  • corn
  • soybeans
  • organic
  • specialty crops
  • Alabama
  • Alaska
  • Arizona
  • Arkansas
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Hawaii
  • Idaho
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Maine
  • Maryland
  • Massachusetts
  • Michigan
  • Minnesota
  • Mississippi
  • Missouri
  • Montana
  • Nebraska
  • Nevada
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New Mexico
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • North Dakota
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon
  • Pennsylvania
  • Rhode Island
  • South Carolina
  • South Dakota
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Utah
  • Vermont
  • Virginia
  • Washington
  • West Virginia
  • Wisconsin
  • Wyoming

Morning Ag Clips

  • By Keyword
  • By topic
  • By state
  • policy
  • tractors & machinery
  • education
  • conservation
  • webinars
  • business
  • dairy
  • cattle
  • poultry
  • swine
  • corn
  • soybeans
  • organic
  • specialty crops
  • Home
  • Events
  • Jobs
  • Store
  • Advertise
Home » New rules proposed for hog slaughter
policy swine
REGULATIONS ...

New rules proposed for hog slaughter

Proposed rules are similar to ones rolled out in 2014 for the poultry industry

PUBLISHED ON January 21, 2018

The new rules would allow hog slaughter plants to voluntarily join a new proposed inspection system that would put plant employees in charge of determining which animals are unfit for processing. (stu_spivack, Flickr/Creative Commons)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Federal government regulators proposed changes Friday in the way most hogs slaughtered for meat in the United States are processed in a series of new rules that officials say improve industry practices but critics say could imperil food safety.

The new rules would allow hog slaughter plants to voluntarily join a new proposed inspection system that would put plant employees in charge of determining which animals are unfit for processing. Government inspectors who currently perform this function would be moved to other areas of the plant focused more on food safety, said U.S. Department of Agriculture Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety Carmen Rottenberg.

The proposed rules are similar to ones rolled out in 2014 for the poultry industry.

Critics have said such changes turn too much of the inspection and food safety testing over to the companies, creating increased risk of food-borne illnesses from contaminated meat as well as an increased risk of inhumane treatment of animals.

“We think that food safety is going to suffer from this,” said Tony Corbo, a senior lobbyist at Food & Water Watch, a Washington-based advocacy group that is calling for USDA to drop the proposed rules. “We opposed what they did in poultry and we’re opposing what they’re doing here. This is a belated Christmas gift to the industry.”

Rottenberg insists the changes could improve food safety and said they would still require government inspectors to look at all hog carcasses processed.

“There is no single technology or process to address the problem of foodborne illness, but when we focus our inspections on food safety-related tasks, we better protect American families,” she said.

The proposed rules would also increase the number of hogs plants could process by revoking limits on line speeds and allowing plants to determine their own speeds. Corbo argued the move could endanger workers and reduce quality control.

Maximum line speeds are currently set at 1,106 hogs per hour, meaning each line in a plant is allowed to handle that number of carcasses each hour. The USDA said five pilot plants operating at their own established speeds have operated efficiently but safely.

Corbo said data he’s collected indicate the pilot plants have had significantly higher noncompliance reports in key areas including sanitation.

The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, which is proposing the rules, said the new system is unlikely to result in increased bacterial contamination of hog carcasses and could lower it, “which in turn may result in fewer human illnesses.”

Companies may choose not to adopt the new rules and could continue to operate under the existing inspection system.

The voluntary inspection program would apply only to those processing plants slaughtering market hogs, animals about six months old weighing around 250 pounds (115 kilograms), which make up about 96 percent of the pork products sold to consumers.

After officially posting the rules in the next few days, the agency will begin taking comments, which could lead to changes in the proposal. No date has been set for enactment.

A second set of rules proposed Friday would be mandatory and require all pork processing plants to implement their own new daily documentation on how they prevent bacterial contamination of carcasses and procedures for microbial testing.

USDA has been working on changes to pork processing since 2002, Rottenberg said.

The agency said the U.S. has 612 swine slaughter plants under federal inspection. They process about 118 million hogs a year.

___

Follow David Pitt on Twitter at https://twitter.com/davepitt

–By DAVID PITT , Associated Press

For more articles concerning the pork industry, click here.

RECOMMENDED ARTICLES

Bacon may disappear in California as pig rules take effect
August 01, 2021

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Thanks to a reworked menu and long hours, Jeannie Kim managed to keep her San Francisco restaurant alive during the coronavirus pandemic. That makes it all the more frustrating that she fears her breakfast-focused diner could be ruined within months by new rules that could make one of her top […]

National Pork Board identifies favorite dishes in every state
July 06, 2021

DES MOINES, Iowa — As pandemic-weary consumers begin to travel and look for new recipes during a summer that’s starting to feel more “normal,” The National Pork Board is encouraging Americans to let their taste buds explore the most popular pork dishes in every state. The Pork Board, and the 60,000 U.S. pig farmers it […]

USDA rejects request for faster pork slaughterhouse speeds
May 29, 2021

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has declined a request by the pork industry to increase the speed at which pigs can be processed into meat, delivering a victory to slaughterhouse workers who had raised safety concerns about the plan. The USDA announced Wednesday evening it would enforce a Minnesota judge’s […]

Pork group asks USDA to support faster slaughterhouse speeds
May 25, 2021

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A group representing pork producers urged the federal government Tuesday to let them continue an effort to speed up the processing of pigs into bacon and ham despite a union’s claim that the increased volume endangers workers. The National Pork Producers Council, an industry trade group, sent a letter to […]

Spread the word

Browse More Clips

Tax law gives break to farmers who sell to co-ops

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue. (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Flickr/Creative Commons)

USDA services during government shutdown

Primary Sidebar

MORE

NATIONAL CLIPS

The Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act
February 2, 2023
2022 Heritage Breed Microgrants awarded
February 2, 2023
Funding to improve seniors' access to locally grown foods
February 2, 2023
dairy milk milking robotic milker
U.S. dairy praises USTR move to hold Canada responsible for USMCA violations
February 2, 2023
As prices ease, 1.45 billion chicken wings on the menu for Super Bowl LVII
February 2, 2023
  • Trending
  • Latest

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE...

Iowa Pork Regional Conferences
Iowa Pork Regional Conferences Feb. 20-23
February 3, 2023
Wisconsin Beef Leadership Institute
Apply now for Beef Leadership Institute
February 3, 2023
economic development division director
New ag economic development division leader
February 2, 2023
Impact of 2023 government leadership on Ohio ag?
February 2, 2023
The Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act
February 2, 2023

Footer

MORNING AG CLIPS

  • Contact Us
  • Sponsors
  • About Us
  • Advertise with Us
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service

CONNECT WITH US

  • Like Us on Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

TRACK YOUR TRADE

  • Markets & Economy
  • Cattle Updates
  • Dairy News
  • Policy & Politics
  • Corn Alerts

QUICK LINKS

  • Account
  • Portal Membership
  • Just Me, Kate
  • Farmhouse Communication

Get the MAC App Today!

Get it on Google Play
Download on the App Store

© 2023 Morning Ag Clips, LLC. All Rights Reserved.