Protecting Food. Empowering Whistleblowers.
Protecting Food. Empowering Whistleblowers.
By John Upton Let’s hope this chicken was inspected by a government worker. Who would you rather have check factory chickens for signs of illness and smears of crap — a USDA inspector or a factory employee? The U.S. Department of Agriculture has long stationed its own inspectors along factory lines at poultry plants. But […]
by Ron Nixon WASHINGTON — The Agriculture Department’s plan to change its poultry inspection procedures relied on incomplete and antiquated data, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office released on Wednesday. The new rules will allow workers at plants, rather than agency inspectors, to examine birds on processing lines for blemishes or […]
(Washington, DC) – Tammy Schrier, wife of Government Accountability Project (GAP) client and veteran USDA inspector Jim Schrier, has collected more than 150,000 petition signatures through a Change.org petition asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to stop retaliating against her husband. Jim Schrier, a USDA meat inspector for 29 years, was recently stationed at […]
by Tim Eberly One-third of a second. That’s how long a federal inspector will have to examine slaughtered chickens for contaminants and disease under new rules proposed by the federal government. The proposal would speed up production lines as much as 25 percent. It also would pull most federal inspectors off the lines and replace […]
FIC and many of our diverse coalition partners contributed to a statement released today by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) regarding anti-whistleblower Ag Gag legislation. The statement reads in part: … a broad spectrum of public interest groups today welcomed the defeat of all 11 ag-gag/anti-whistleblower bills that were […]
(Washington, DC) – On Friday, the The Kansas City Star publicized an investigative report in the case of Government Accountability Project (GAP) client Jim Schrier, a veteran federal food safety inspector who faces retaliation after blowing the whistle on violations of humane handling regulations at a USDA-regulated Tyson Foods plant in Iowa. GAP represents Schrier […]
by Mike McGraw The meat industry has been scandalized in recent years by undercover videos showing horrific abuse of farm animals on their way to slaughter: workers kicking piglets like volleyballs, skinning veal calves alive and ramming a forklift into a sick cow. The videos prompted commitments to improve enforcement of a 55-year-old federal law […]
by Ted Genoways Shawn Lyons was dead to rights—and he knew it. More than a month had passed since People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals had released a video of savage mistreatment at the MowMar Farms hog confinement facility where he worked as an entry-level herdsman in the breeding room. The three enormous sow […]
(Washington, DC) – In a complaint filed in federal court, a former employee of Brothers International Food Corporation alleges the New York-based food and beverage company violated FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) whistleblower provision. Colin Chase, former Director of eCommerce at Brothers’ Rochester, New York headquarters, was terminated in July 2012 after raising safety […]
Whistleblower Meat Inspector Gains Support for Online Petition (Washington, DC) – Sherry Medina, a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) poultry inspector, has collected more than 70,000 petition signatures via a Change.org petition asking Tyson Foods to stop its excessive use of hazardous chemicals in poultry processing. After 16 years of working as a federal meat […]