March 27, 2008
Ag. Dept Considers Limiting Disclosure of Retailers Who Sold Tainted Meat
Posted by Olive Rockfish under agriculture, fish wrap, government, health, little falls, morrison county, united states | Tags: Associated Press, Beef Recall, Chino, Food and Water Watch, food safety, Hallmark Meats, health, slaughterhouse, Toby Corbo, USDA, Westland Meats |WASHINGTON (AP) — Under pressure from the food industry, the Agriculture Department is considering a proposal not to identify retailers where tainted meat went for sale except in cases of serious health risk, The Associated Press has learned.
Had that been the rule in place last month, consumers would not have been told if their supermarkets sold meat from a Southern California slaughterhouse that triggered the biggest beef recall in U.S. history. Read the full story —> USDA Might Limit Meat Recall Information.
March 27, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Olive:
You’ll want to keep in mind that the proposed change to meat recalls is a proposed change to a PROPOSED rule; it’s not a change that would be made to a rule that’s actually in effect now. I don’t think the AP story is clear on that point, esp in the first couple of graphs.
The proposed rule for which this change is … um, proposed, WOULD provide consumers with more information — sometimes even a lot more information — in case of a recall. This new proposed change would ratchet back that increase in some cases, but it would still be an increase.
Which still may not be enough to satisfy a particular consumer; I just wanted to clarify a couple of things.
Thanks,
Lisa M. Keefe
Editor, Meatingplace in print
Chicago