Protecting Food. Empowering Whistleblowers.
Protecting Food. Empowering Whistleblowers.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has reportedly begun collecting data to support a potential rule that would increase line speeds and essentially deregulate inspection at pork plants. What more data do they need to realize that this model is a bad idea? Multiple USDA whistleblowers stationed at pilot plants have already revealed why this plan […]
By TOM PHILPOTT In 2004, Elsa Murano stepped down from her post as chief of the US Department of Agriculture division that oversees food safety at the nation’s slaughterhouses. Two years later, she joined the board of directors of pork giant Hormel, a company that runs some of the nation’s largest slaughterhouses. Murano received $238,000 in compensation […]
FIC Director Amanda Hitt speaks with Katy Keiffer on this episode of What Doesn’t Kill You about why Hormel’s participation in USDA’s high-speed hog inspection program is a “recipe for disaster.” Listen to the episode (46 minutes) here.
By TREY MEWES Meat inspectors are speaking out against a high-speed pork production program used by several Hormel Foods Corp. factories. The Government Accountability Project released four affidavits from working and recently retired meat inspectors on Monday, all of whom denounced a Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points project for increasing the contamination in meat […]
KAAL-TV, the ABC affiliate in Austin, Minnesota (where Hormel is headquartered) covered a television news story about USDA whistleblowers at Hormel pork plants raising concerns about high-speed hog inspection. The print version of the story is below. By DAN CONRADT A USDA pilot project is drawing criticism, and that criticism is being felt close to […]
This piece originally appeared in the Huffington Post. Americans love pork. But they’d probably think twice about biting into that slice of bacon or Spam sandwich if they knew about the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s high-speed slaughter program. Fortunately, a few brave USDA meat inspectors have come forward to let folks know what’s really going […]
by CHRISTOPHER BRENNAN Toenails, hair and fecal matter are finding their way into Americans’ pork under new, faster slaughterhouse regulations. Whistleblowers from inside the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have spoken out against a recent pilot program, saying they let harmful materials be passed on to consumers. They claim that fewer inspectors and higher […]
by TED GENOWAYS Four U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) meat inspectors, all working in slaughter operations owned or operated by the Hormel Foods Corporation, have come forward this week with shocking allegations in affidavits offered to the whistleblower protection organization Government Accountability Project (GAP). A government-run pilot program experimenting with a reduced inspection protocol in […]
by JENNY PETERS In love with bacon, pulled-pork BBQ and a lovely pork chop now and then? Then buyer beware, as some of the pig products coming to grocery butcher shelves and restaurant refrigerators may not be getting the proper inspection needed to prove they’re not contaminated with some pretty disgusting stuff. The Government Accountability […]
Last Friday, the Government Accountability Project (GAP) released affidavits from four federal inspectors from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s high-speed inspection pilot program who have come forward with their concerns about the system. “Under the HIMP model, company inspectors take over the duties of USDA inspectors at the lymph node incision and head inspection stations,” […]