Judge Rules Against USDA Closing Plant

A federal judge in Texas ruled Thursday that the Agriculture Department does not have authority to shut down a meat processing plant that repeatedly failed to control dangerous salmonella bacteria, a decision that threatens the federal government’s system for ensuring the safety of meat nationwide.

The decision by U.S. District Judge A. Joe Fish could strip the agency of its ability to enforce 1996 rules that make the presence of salmonella a marker for whether a plant is sanitary. The new rules replaced the traditional “sniff and poke” form of inspection with one that uses high-tech equipment to find harmful microorganisms.

Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said Thursday that “this wrong decision” will be appealed and that the agency will explore the need for additional regulatory measures. “Today’s decision threatens to turn back the clock on the significant progress this administration and many in industry have made to improve food safety,” he said.

USDA officials said that while they await Fish’s order in the case, the agency plans to continue enforcing its new salmonella standards everywhere but in the northern district of Texas. But they and food safety advocates voiced concern that the ruling will encourage other companies to challenge the standards elsewhere in the country, and potentially other food safety inspection programs as well.