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Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Whereabouts of Recalled Meat a Mystery for Consumers

The USDA is preparing to finalize a rule that would help consumers identify grocery stores that recalled meat has been sold to. Typically, under current regulations, neither USDA nor slaughterhouses and processors disclose the names of retailers who have received potentially contaminated meat. USDA does disclose the brand and type of meat but, by failing to name retailers, leaves consumers in the dark as to whether their community might be at risk.

While the rule would be a step in the right direction, the devil is in the details (as it so often is with the Bush administration). Insiders say the new rule may only apply to Class I recalls. USDA classifies recalls based on the potential risk to public health; Class I recalls are for products which pose the highest risk, Class II and III recalls are for products which pose lower risks.

Most meat recalls are Class I (50 of 58 in 2007), but consumers have a right — and a need — to know about Class II and III recalls as well. For example, USDA classified an April 2007 recall of more than 5,000 pounds of salami as a Class II recall but also called the health risk "high."

February's record-breaking recall of 143 million pounds of beef was also deemed a Class II recall. USDA and Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. recalled the meat because "the cattle did not receive complete and proper inspection" and nonambulatory, or downer, cows were allowed into the food supply. Downer cows are at greater risk for carrying mad cow disease. USDA's new policy would still leave consumers uninformed if a similar incident occurred in the future.

USDA has sent the rule to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) at the White House Office of Management and Budget for review. OIRA is friendly with lobbyists from the meat producing and packaging industries who oppose USDA's rule. Seattle Post-Intelligencer reporter Andrew Schneider has more:

The pressure on the agencies to conceal the retailers is coming from industry lobbyists for food chains, meat packers and importers. In fact, USDA first proposed a regulation requiring disclosure of where dangerous recalled food is being sold in February 2005. Nothing has happened since.

Tony Corbo of public advocacy group Food & Water Watch told me, "The main impediment has been the White House Office of Management and Budget which is responsible for clearing major regulation changes.

"The food industry has effectively lobbied OMB thus far to prevent the implementation of this rule."

As the clock runs out on the Bush presidency, OIRA may finally let USDA finalize the rule in its weakest form possible for fear that a new administration may push for tougher regulations. Stay tuned to Reg•Watch for updates.