Meat Institute Hits Back at Inspection Fears

The American Meat Institute (AMI) has hit out at claims that the meat industry is not regulated heavily enough and branded them "simply outrageous."

AMI's response comes after the largest meat recall in US history began earlier this week.

The voluntary recall of 143,383,823 pounds of raw and frozen beef products by the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company followed an investigation by USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).

FSIS investigated the Hallmark/Westland plant following an undercover investigation by the Humane Society of the United States, which resulted in video footage of plant employees mistreating cattle.

The footage led to fears that the use of crippled cattle could increase the risk of human exposure to mad cow disease or pathogens such as E. coli.

The news has spurred debate amongst industry and consumer safety groups, with the latter claiming that the incident supports growing consumer fears that the government is not properly regulating meat safety.

But now AMI has hit back at these accusations, with senior vice president of regulatory affairs Mark Dopp, stating: "Claims that we are not regulated heavily enough or that inspection oversight is lacking are simply outrageous. We benefit from the oversight we receive. We will not let a video from what appears to have been a tragic anomaly stand as the poster child for our industry. "

Dopp said that the U.S. meat industry is unique in how widely it is inspected and regulated.

He said: "The USDA seal on our products means that the animals from which meat is derived were inspected by a veterinarian and that meat inspectors oversaw production, ensuring compliance with federal rules throughout the process. This inspection is an essential part of ensuring consumer trust in our products.

"No other industry in agriculture or in other industries has inspectors on site at all times," he said.

Read the full FoodProductionDaily.com story here.