United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2001-12-17 monographic deposited born digital 86 p. GA 1.13:GAO-02-59 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-59 P0b002ee1803a14d1 f:d0259 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-23 GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-59 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-59 GAO-02-59 Food and drug law Meat inspection Poultry inspection Contaminated foods Consumer protection Safety regulation Food facilities Listeria monocytogenes Bacteria Salmonella Enteritidis Bacteria USDA Meat and Poultry Inspection Program Australia Meat Safety Enhancement Program Canada Modernized Poultry Inspection Program E.coli Bacteria FSIS Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point System Other Written Product A02437

In 1997, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that it would modify its meat and poultry slaughter inspection program to make industry more responsible for identifying carcass defects. Before making the change permanent, USDA developed a model to test whether a prevention-oriented inspection system that uses plant personnel to examine each carcass and USDA inspectors to verify that quality standards are met would continue to ensure the safety of meat and poultry products. USDA's pilot project for chickens has several design and methodology limitations that compromise the overall validity and reliability of its results. First, the chicken pilot that USDA designed lacks a control group--a critical design flaw that precluded a comparison between the performance of the inspection systems at those plants that volunteered to participate in the pilot and that of plants that did not participate. Second, the chicken plants that volunteered to participate in the baseline measurement phase of the pilot were not randomly selected, and they did not include plants from all chicken-producing ares or plants of all sizes. Third, the pilot project's methodology did not take into account such variables as seasonal changes and plant modifications that could affect project results. Finally, USDA's pilot project did not include features of the modified inspection systems in Australia and Canada that would be important considerations in ensuring the successful implementation of a modified inspection system nationwide. Notwithstanding the project's design problems, the data themselves do not conclusively demonstrate that modified inspections are at least equal to traditional inspections. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-59/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-59.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-59/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-59.pdf GAO-02-59 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-59 Other Written Product GAO-02-59; Food Safety: Weaknesses in Meat and Poultry Inspection Pilot Should Be Addressed Before Implementation; Food and drug law Meat inspection Poultry inspection Contaminated foods Consumer protection Safety regulation Food facilities Listeria monocytogenes Bacteria Salmonella Enteritidis Bacteria USDA Meat and Poultry Inspection Program Australia Meat Safety Enhancement Program Canada Modernized Poultry Inspection Program E.coli Bacteria FSIS Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point System Title 21 Section 455 Title 21 Section 604 21 U.S.C. 455 21 U.S.C. 604