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U.S.
beef processors implicated in a USDA audit of slaughterhouses
in the wake of the Hallmark/Westland recall have remedied
the problems that prompted the agency's Food Safety and
Inspection Service to issue reprimands, an agency spokeswoman
told Meatingplace.com .
FSIS spokeswoman Amanda Eamich emphasized this point following
an Associated Press article published Wednesday citing information
obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request for
details of a humane-handling audit of 18 processors that
supply beef to the National School Lunch Program.
Sen. Herbert Kohl (D-Wis.) had requested the special audit
after abuses at Chino, Calif.-based Hallmark/Westland made
national headlines. Hallmark/Westland was a school lunch
program supplier.
"We reported back to [Kohl] more than three weeks ago,"
Eamich said. "Really, this isn't any new development."
FSIS's audit found violations at four of the 18 slaughterhouses,
including National Beef Packing Co.'s Dodge City, Kan.,
plant (overcrowded holding pens); Cargill Meat Solutions'
Fresno, Calif., plant (excessive use of electrical prod);
Dakota Premium Foods' South St. Paul, Minn., plant (excessive
balking at stunning area); and Martin's Abbattoir and Wholesale
Meats in Godwin, N.C. (insufficient stunning).
The first three of those processors received non-compliance
records (NRs); the last was suspended temporarily. Another
received a letter of concern over its use of a high-powered
hose to wash cattle prior to slaughter.
All have since remedied the problems, Eamich said.
Appeal
Cargill appealed the violation USDA issued the company that
said, "the driving of livestock from the holding pens to
the stunning area should be done with a minimum of excitement
and discomfort to the animals."
"We subsequently issued Cargill a letter of concern," Eamich
said. She explained that FSIS concluded there was a design
flaw in the chute leading to the knock box which was causing
animals to hesitate, and FSIS said this caused Cargill to
use an electric prod on 10 of 36 animals the agency reviewed.
Cargill spokesman Mark Klein declined to comment, saying
only that questions about the issue "are moot as the NR
has been rescinded." The AP quoted Klein as contending that
FSIS's audit itself caused the animals to balk, distracted
by too many people in the area. Eamich disagreed, noting
inspectors are trained in how to conduct the audits.
Numbers
Of 6,200 federally inspected establishments, approximately
800 slaughter livestock and are therefore subject to the
Humane Methods of Slaughter Act.
In 2007, FSIS conducted some 600 correlation visits, in
which a district veterinary medical specialist (DVMS) assesses
a plant's humane handling activities and determines inspectors'
knowledge and whether they are applying appropriate practices.
In 2007, FSIS issued a total of 66 suspensions to federally
inspected facilities, a dozen (18 percent) of which qualified
as egregious humane handling violations witnessed by inspectors.
The agency conducted nearly 125,100 humane handling verification
activities, which resulted in 524 noncompliance records
(0.42 percent).
The agency upped inspections following the Hallmark/Westland
fiasco, particularly at facilities considered to pose a
higher risk for violations.
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