Tainted meat? Industry tells USDA that reporting it may be bad for business

[underpants]

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ib5V7z9A-ocCTOvoaRCq9Ohbl9SAD8VLCT6O2

USDA Might Limit Meat Recall Information
By ERICA WERNER – 18 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Under pressure from the food industry, the Agriculture Department is considering a proposal not to identify retailers where tainted meat went for sale except in cases of serious health risk, The Associated Press has learned.

Had that been the rule in place last month, consumers would not have been told if their supermarkets sold meat from a Southern California slaughterhouse that triggered the biggest beef recall in U.S. history.

The plan is being considered as the USDA puts the final touches on a proposed disclosure rule. It had lingered in draft form for two years until getting pushed to the forefront in February, when 143 million pounds of beef were recalled by Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. in Chino, Calif., after undercover video by an animal-rights activist showed workers abusing crippled cows.

Agriculture Department spokesman Chris Connelly confirmed Wednesday that the agency is weighing whether to make naming the stores mandatory only for so-called "Class I" recalls, which pose the greatest health hazard. The Chino recall was categorized as "Class II" because authorities determined there was minimal risk to human health.


Partly for competitive reasons, industry groups support the way recalls are currently done, where a description of the recalled product is released by the Agriculture Department's Food Safety and Inspection Service along with some other information including where it was produced.

Retailers must remove recalled meat from their shelves but there's no requirement that they notify their customers about meat already sold, though some take voluntary steps to do so.

But some industry officials also acknowledge competitive concerns, because if lists of retailers selling recalled meat become public, competitors would know who to approach to offer the product at a lower price. "That does cause some issues in the marketplace," said Jeremy Russell, spokesman for the National Meat Association.

[HereSince1628]

1. What's the problem? Possibly a few thousand people sick

hundreds hospitalized. A few tens, mostly the young and old or those with compromised immune system die.

I ask you, Can't you see that is NOTHING compared to the money that corporations may lose? Don't you get it?

And BTW, Health Care and Food Retailing are the best distributed service industries in the country, the cycle of consumer to patient to consumer is an engine for local economies all over America...

[underpants]

2. I forgot my role

I'm supposed to pay other people's taxes so we have a military to go take shit for them

[HereSince1628]

3. Yes, and if that makes you sick...please seek health care

where you once again can feed the machine of patient...consumer...patient...consumer...patient...consumer...