United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1996-08-29 monographic deposited born digital 16 p. GA 1.13:RCED-96-220 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-96-220 P0b002ee1803762e1 f:rc96220 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-RCED-96-220 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-RCED-96-220 RCED-96-220 Meat inspection Poultry inspection Food services contracts State and local procurement Food programs for children Public schools Meat packing industry Contract specifications Waivers Contract monitoring National School Lunch Program Letter Report RCED Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the incidence and effect of states restricting commercial processors from combining federally donated meat or poultry from multiple sources for processing, focusing on the: (1) reasons for and extent of states' and school districts' batching restrictions; (2) impact that batching restrictions have on commercial processors, schools, and the federal government; and (3) mechanisms that state agencies and schools use to ensure compliance with batching restrictions.<p/>GAO found that: (1) states and schools impose batching restrictions to prevent deteriorated taste from meat and poultry that have been stored too long or improperly; (2) 46 of 54 state agencies that distribute federally donated meat and poultry have contracts with commercial processors that receive products from several states; (3) 28 of these agencies have batching restrictions in their contracts, but processors can request waivers from batching restrictions under certain circumstances; (4) most multistate processors say that batching restrictions do not significantly increase their costs or decrease yields because batching is not the standard processing procedure for some processors; (5) batching is not an issue for poultry products, since poultry is usually processed to a finished form by its producer before shipment; (6) a few multistate processors believe that failure to obtain waivers from batching restrictions limits their ability to operate at full capacity and increases costs; (7) processors usually absorb the higher operating costs that result from batching restrictions and do not pass them directly on to the schools; (8) batching restrictions have no effect on the federal government, since they occur after transfer of ownership; and (9) state agencies and schools rely on on-site Agricultural Marketing Service graders, periodic independent audits, and Department of Agriculture Inspector General reviews to ensure compliance with their batching restrictions. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-96-220/html/GAOREPORTS-RCED-96-220.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-96-220/pdf/GAOREPORTS-RCED-96-220.pdf GAO/RCED-96-220 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-96-220 Letter Report GAO/RCED-96-220; Federally Donated Meat and Poultry: Information on Extent and Impact of States' Restrictions on Processors; Meat inspection Poultry inspection Food services contracts State and local procurement Food programs for children Public schools Meat packing industry Contract specifications Waivers Contract monitoring National School Lunch Program Public Law 103-448