Chicken is the top-selling meat in the United
States. The average American eats 84
pounds a year - more chicken than beef or pork.
Sorry red meat, chicken is what’s for dinner.
Now, the USDA is proposing a fundamental change in the way that poultry
makes it to the American dinner table.
As early as next week, the government will end debate on a
cost-cutting, modernization proposal it hopes to fully implement by the end of
the year – a plan that is setting off alarm bells among food science watchdogs
because it turns over most of the chicken inspection duties to the companies
that produce the birds for sale.
The USDA hopes to save $85 million over three years by laying off 1,000
government inspectors and turning over their duties to company monitors who
will staff the poultry processing lines in plants across the country.
The poultry companies expect to save more than $250 million a year
because they, in turn, will be allowed to speed up the processing lines to a
dizzying 175 birds per minute with one USDA inspector at the end of the line.
Currently, traditional poultry lines move at a maximum of 90 birds per
minute, with up to three USDA inspectors on line.
Whistleblower inspectors opposed to the new USDA rule say the companies
cannot be trusted to watch over themselves.
They contend that companies routinely pressure their employees not to
stop the line or slow it down, making thorough inspection for contaminants,
tumors and evidence of disease nearly impossible.
“At that speed, it’s all a blur,” one current inspector tells ABC News.
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