The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), which has a history of advocating for a vegan diet, has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), alleging the agency ignores concerns over fecal contamination of chicken and other meat.
The suit was filed with the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on April 16.
The lawsuit seeks to compel USDA to comply with the Administrative Procedure Act and respond to a petition PCRM submitted in 2013 that requested that USDA regulate feces as an adulterant under the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry Products Inspection Act.
PCRM said in a press release it conducted a study in 2011 that was described in detail in the petition, which tested 120 chicken products sold by 15 grocery store chains in 10 U.S. cities for the presence of fecal bacteria. The study, PCRM said, showed 48 percent of the products tested positive for feces.
The petition argued that the public deserves fair notice that food products deemed “wholesome” by USDA would be deemed adulterated under any reasonable reading of federal law.
The lawsuit also claims that USDA violated the Freedom of Information Act by failing to respond to a 2017 request seeking documentation of fecal contamination rates detected in poultry slaughter plants and other data related to poultry inspection and slaughter line speed.
Industry reactions
Two industry groups, the National Chicken Council (NCC) and the North American Meat Institute (NAMI), questioned the merit of the lawsuit, and pointed out the USDA’s zero-tolerance policy concerning fecal contamination.
“(USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service) has a zero-tolerance policy for fecal material entering the chiller, and the industry has an excellent track record. Every piece of chicken is subject to rigorous inspection by federal inspectors,” said Tom Super, NCC senior vice president of communications.
KatieRose McCullough, Ph.D., MPH, NAMI director of regulatory and scientific affairs, offered the following statement: “It’s no surprise that the pseudo-medical animal rights group Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine doesn’t know the difference between fecal contamination and bacteria on meat products. There is a zero tolerance for feces on meat carcasses, meaning it is not allowed. If an inspector finds contamination, a carcass must be cleaned, trimmed or condemned.
Bacteria like E.coli are naturally present in the environment as numerous studies on all types of items from foods to phones, keyboards and toothbrushes have shown. This does not mean any of those items are contaminated with feces. Finding E.coli means that you have found bacteria that probably originated in a gastrointestinal tract, but it could be several times removed from actual feces. Meat companies test for the presence of bacteria like generic E. coli because it can signal the presence of pathogenic bacteria from the GI tract that can potentially make someone sick, but finding it does not automatically mean feces is present. When pathogenic E.coli is found, it is an adulterant and the raw product does not enter the marketplace.
Testing has shown that harmful bacteria that make people sick have dramatically declined in meat products over the past decade. This is a true success story that should be celebrated as the US meat and poultry supply is as safe as it has ever been and among the safest in the world. We continue to strive to make it even safer and petitions with no scientific basis like PCRMs only serve to waste agency resources while offering no public health benefit.”
