Ruling Won’t Halt USDA Tests

Government inspectors will continue testing meat processors for salmonella bacteria, despite a court ruling that the test results can’t be used to close a plant, Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman said Tuesday.

“We will increase our vigilance in meat plants to ensure compliance and the safety of our food supply,” Veneman said.

The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals said that salmonella alone doesn’t make meat unsafe and said plants could not be required to meet limits for the bacteria. Veneman said USDA will use the tests to tell whether a plant’s sanitation systems are working properly.

If a plant fails two sets of tests for salmonella, USDA will immediately investigate the plant’s operations, and the facility would be closed if it fails to fix deficiencies, she said.

“This ruling does not impair our ability to close plants that do not meet the statutory and regulatory requirements of the law for processing meat and poultry,” said Veneman. “We can and will shut down plants that do not meet that responsibility.”

Carol Tucker Foreman, director of the Consumer Federation of America’s Food Policy Institute, said the court case “blew a huge hole in public protection” and Veneman is trying to “patch that gaping hole with Band-Aids.”

Senate Democrats considered but dropped the idea of proposing an amendment to a bill that would have authorized the USDA to close plants that failed the salmonella tests.

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said he would hold hearings on the issue next year. Democrats had considered proposing an amendment to the farm bill that would have ensured that the USDA could close plants that flunk the tests.

The salmonella standards are opposed by several Democratic senators who represent states with large meat and poultry processors.

The standards, first imposed in 1996, set limits on how frequently meat or poultry can test positive for the bacteria.