Earlier this year, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced new rules regarding regulation of slaughter inspection processes for pigs. One-third of U.S. House Democrats have now responded by sending a letter opposing the rules to Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue. The New Swine Slaughter Inspection System, which seeks to encourage industry self-regulation, will decrease the number of government inspectors, allow company employees to conduct inspections, and remove maximum limits on line speed in pig slaughterhouses. The letter, backed by union support, asserts that “the rule will privatize the food safety inspection systems in hog slaughter plants.” Industry is supportive of the new rule; whether the USDA will reconsider its position is uncertain.
