Protecting Food. Empowering Whistleblowers.
Protecting Food. Empowering Whistleblowers.
USDA inspector Phyllis McKelvey exposed the truth behind a proposed high-speed poultry inspection system. After working in a pilot of the inspection program, McKelvey contacted FIC with concerns. She blew the whistle on increased risk of fecal contamination and worker injuries associated with the pilot inspection plan. She became the public face of a multi-organization campaign against the plan. McKelvey authored a petition to USDA that received over 180,000 signatures. McKelvey’s activism prompted seven other poultry inspectors to provide FIC with anonymous legal affidavits that backed her claims.
Affidavits from meat inspector whistleblowers bolstered a food safety coalition lawsuit against the USDA. The lawsuit argued that the USDA’s HACCP-Based Inspection Model Project (HIMP) plan illegally replaced federal inspectors with plant workers for certain meat inspection tasks. The courts agreed, requiring USDA to put inspectors back on the line.