The National Pork Producers Council applauded USDA’s plan to make the New Swine Inspection System increased line speed program permanent.
“America’s pork producers thank Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins and the Food Safety and Inspection Service for the needed action that will provide financial security and more stability for pork producers,” says NPPC President Duane Stateler, a pork producer from Ohio. “Without this program, some pork producers could have incurred an additional loss of nearly $10 a head.”
NPPC is grateful that USDA, under Secretary Rollins, recognizes that food safety remains without compromise while greater efficiency benefits producers and consumers. Under the new policy, FSIS will extend waivers that allow pork and poultry facilities to maintain higher line speeds, ensuring they can meet demand without excessive government interference. FSIS will also no longer require plants to submit redundant worker safety data as research confirms no direct link between processing speeds and workplace injuries.
Meanwhile……
The USDA announced new waivers to increase line speeds in U.S. poultry and pork plants. Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union, which represents over 15,000 poultry workers at facilities across the southern U.S., as well as meatpacking and processing workers in other parts of the country, reacted to the announcement. “Increased line speeds will hurt workers,” Appelbaum said. “It’s not a maybe, it’s a definite, and increased production speeds will jeopardize the health and safety of every American that eats chicken.” He also says the announcement by the USDA echoes the same lack of consideration they had for our essential food processing workers during the first Trump administration, and it will put all workers at risk. “Worker safety must be a priority, and these facilities cannot operate at these speeds without increased staffing, which cannot happen the way they are constructed now,” Appelbaum added.
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