Personal Injury Law

Food Industry Lobbyists Blocking Public's Right To Know

Food industry lobbyists are crawling about the Executive Office of Management & Budget to stop approval of new regulations that would give consumers the right to know which retail outlets were supplied tainted meat that’s subject to recall.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) first sent the right to know regulations over to OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in February 2005. They’ve been hung-up there ever since.

USDA renewed its call for the new regulations after the 143 million pounds of beef was recalled when its became known that at least some “downer” cows were processed by the Chino slaughterhouse.

Once “downer” cows reach the food supply, experts say there is a much greater risk of humans contracting “Mad Cow” disease.

About a third of the Hallmark/Westland beef went to school lunch programs, but the other two thirds went into the overall retail chain. Consumers were left clueless by the federal government and the food industry.

OMB Watch, an independent blog, is down and dirty with what’s going on:

While the rule would be a step in the right direction, the devil is in the details (as it so often is with the Bush administration). Insiders say the new rule may only apply to Class I recalls. USDA classifies recalls based on the potential risk to public health; Class I recalls are for products which pose the highest risk, Class II and III recalls are for products which pose lower risks.

Most meat recalls are Class I (50 of 58 in 2007), but consumers have a right — and a need — to know about Class II and III recalls as well. For example, USDA classified an April 2007 recall of more than 5,000 pounds of salami as a Class II recall but also called the health risk "high."

For more on the behind-the-scenes rule making, go here

Full post as published by Mad Cow Blog on April 15, 2008 (boomark / email).