Judge Rules Against USDA, Lets Beef Processor Remain Open

A federal judge dealt a legal setback to the Agriculture Department’s tough new meat safety regulations Friday, blocking the department from effectively shutting down a Texas processing plant where ground beef allegedly was found to contain unacceptable levels of salmonella in repeated tests this year.

In a ruling that food safety groups said could inhibit the department from enforcing the new regulations in other plants across the country, the judge allowed Supreme Beef Processing of Dallas to continue churning out 500,000 to 600,000 pounds of ground beef a day while it fights the department’s effort to stop production.

At stake in the case is more than just one company’s future. In suing the department, Supreme Beef argued that federal officials went beyond their statutory power in setting tough new limits on permissible levels of salmonella in raw beef and poultry, rules that apply to more than 3,000 processing plants nationwide. In siding with Supreme Beef on Friday, U.S. District Judge A. Joe Fish said it was an “open question” whether the department had exceeded its authority in issuing the rules.

Congress, in passing the Meat Inspection Act of 1907, gave agriculture officials the authority to issue and enforce food safety regulations. The department contends that its new salmonella rules fall within that mandate.

In its lawsuit, the company noted that “because salmonella is destroyed during normal cooking, the presence of salmonella is not a public safety issue” with which the department should be concerned.

“We strongly disagree” with the company’s arguments “and we’re going to do whatever it takes to pursue this matter fully,” said Andy Solomon, a spokesman for Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman.