[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 2]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 2902]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  INTRODUCING A BILL TO AMEND THE FEDERAL MEAT INSPECTION ACT AND THE 
                    POULTRY PRODUCTS INSPECTION ACT

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                             HON. TOM UDALL

                             of new mexico

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 28, 2008

  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce the 
Unsafe Meat and Poultry Recall Act of 2008, a bill to amend the Federal 
Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry Products Inspection Act, and grant 
the Secretary of Agriculture the power to order the recall of meat and 
poultry that is adulterated, misbranded, or otherwise unsafe.
  The USDA announcement last week requesting a recall of 143 million 
pounds of beef from a slaughterhouse that is being investigated for 
unsafe practices makes clear the importance of bolstering the ability 
of the USDA to keep citizens safe from tainted meat products. In this 
instance, like most, the recalled beef had been distributed throughout 
the country, including to my State of New Mexico where the United 
States Department of Agriculture's Commodity Foods Program had sent 
3,000 cases of the questionable beef to the state's Human Services 
Department to be distributed to school lunch programs.
  It is imperative to the health and welfare of the American public 
that we bolster the regulation of the meat and poultry industry. The 
number of people affected annually from ingesting tainted meat and 
poultry products illuminates this proposition: 5,000 people die from 
food-borne illnesses each year. Furthermore, nearly 76 million people 
get sick annually from eating tainted food, of which 325,000 require 
hospitalization. In 2007 alone, there were 91 major food recalls.
  The Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak of 1993 prompted the imposition 
of a new regulatory system on the meat and poultry industry designed to 
help eliminate future deadly food-borne illness outbreaks. The Hazard 
Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) program shifted the 
responsibility for ensuring meat safety from USDA inspectors to the 
meat companies themselves and instituted microbial tests for harmful 
bacteria. Since the implementation of the HACCP regulations, however, 
controversy has erupted over whether the new rules place too much power 
in the hands of the meat industry to regulate itself.
  Due to the huge political clout of the meatpacking industry, USDA 
does not have, nor seem to want, the power to issue mandatory recalls 
of tainted meat and poultry products. Complying with agency recalls, 
therefore, is at the industry's discretion. The meat industry says that 
it has never failed to cooperate with a recall request from the USDA, 
thus mandatory recalls of tainted meat are not needed. However, when 
USDA asks for a recall, a negotiation process ensues between the agency 
and the industry. Meanwhile, thousands of people could continue to eat 
potentially harmful meat. This is not a trivial matter. This is meat 
that is potentially contaminated and could result in death. From the 
time that contaminated meat or poultry is identified, there should not 
be a negotiating period. It should be recalled.
  This is a question of accountability. Somebody must be held 
responsible for the quality and safety of the meat we consume. The 
government must ensure that the meatpacking industry produces only safe 
meat products. My bill will facilitate this need by amending the 
Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry Products Inspection Act. My 
bill authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to order the recall of 
meat and poultry that is adulterated, misbranded, or otherwise unsafe 
or tainted from the market. The time has come for this necessary step.

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