The USDA just took a step that endangers food safety and public health.
John,
I just learned some unsettling news.
The USDA took a step that endangers food safety and public health during a pandemic. It granted a regulatory waiver to speed up slaughter lines at a chicken plant that has repeatedly violated safety regulations and even threatened food safety inspectors.
And, there is only ONE trained government inspector at the end of the slaughter line “inspecting” three birds every second.
While we are all dealing with the national public health crisis, USDA is putting our safety further at risk by waiving our most basic food safety protections. But we can stop them.
Further, just last week, USDA told a beef slaughter plant in Kansas that it could self-regulate and take over food safety inspections that are supposed to be done by trained government inspectors.
Food safety inspectors are already putting themselves in harm’s way working during the COVID-19 outbreak so we can have safe food. Now their bosses are making their jobs even more dangerous and our food less safe.
Granting food safety waivers during a national public health crisis and further endangering public health is unthinkable. That’s why we need Congress to put a halt to USDA’s regulatory waivers.
Wenonah Hauter
Founder and Executive Director
Food & Water Action and Food & Water Watch
Food & Water Action and its affiliated organization, Food & Water Watch, are advocacy groups with a common mission to protect our food, water and climate. This email was sent to [email protected] - and we're glad you got it, because it's one of the most important ways you can reclaim political power, hold elected officials accountable and resist corporate control.
