USDA PROPOSES TO ELIMINATE INEQUITIES IN MEAT AND POULTRY PROCESSING

WASHINGTON (September 9, 1998) – In response to a petition submitted over two years ago by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) and other red meat groups, as well as a legal ruling, USDA tomorrow will propose to limit added water during meat and poultry processing in excess of that required to achieve food safety goals, NCBA said today.

The proposal is expected to give consumers more information about meat and poultry products so they can make value-based purchasing decisions. It would level the playing field between meat and poultry at the retail meat counter by basing inspection standards on science and reducing inequities between meat and poultry processing that have existed for over 40 years.

"Currently, the poultry industry uses water as an economic advantage by adding as much as 9 percent water to the carcasses, while our industry is forbidden to have even a drop of moisture in our products. Our goal is to level the playing field and bring processing regulations in line with science so that poultry processors can only use water to meet food safety requirements, the way red meat processors have to now," said NCBA President Clark Willingham, a cattle producer from Dallas, Texas.

Eliminating inequities between meat and poultry inspection has been a top priority on NCBA’s regulatory agenda for several years. Although poultry carcasses gain several ounces of additional water weight during the chilling process, the poultry industry never has had to prove that the extra water was necessary for food safety purposes and never has been required to disclose the extra weight to consumers.

In March 1996, NCBA, the National Pork Producers Council and the American Sheep Industry Association united to petition the USDA to eliminate such inequities between the two inspection systems. Other inequities the groups petitioned to eliminate included sanitation requirements, content requirements, processing standards and zero tolerance regulations. NCBA also contributed financial resources to the Kenney v. Glickman lawsuit brought by Iowa producers. In July 1997 a federal judge ruled that the poultry regulations on added water are based on "arbitrary and capricious" standards.

Since the petition was filed, USDA has adopted Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) inspection to base inspection on scientific principles, a zero-tolerance standard for poultry processing, and a rule defining the use of the term "fresh" on poultry labels - in addition to the proposed rule on added water.

"Not only is this an ongoing issue between two industries, it’s a consumer issue," said Willingham. "Grocery store patrons would probably like to know when they are paying for chicken and when they are paying for water. At least when they buy steak and ground beef, they are getting what they pay for."

-- NCBA --

Initiated in 1898, NCBA is the marketing organization and trade association for America’s one million cattle farmers and ranchers. With offices in Denver, Chicago and Washington D.C., NCBA is a consumer-focused, producer-directed organization representing the largest segment of the nation’s food and fiber industry.