Poultry line speed proposal suspended by USDA

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) under the Joe Biden Administration withdrew a proposal that could have allowed certain poultry plants to increase their line speeds from the current maximum rate of 140 birds per minute to up to 175 birds per minute.

Roy Graber Headshot
(Tyson Foods)
(Tyson Foods)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) under the Joe Biden Administration withdrew a proposal that could have allowed certain poultry plants to increase their line speeds from the current maximum rate of 140 birds per minute to up to 175 birds per minute.

The proposal was submitted in November by the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to the federal Office of Budget and Management (OMB).

NCC responds

In an statement emailed to WATT Global Media, Ashley Peterson, National Chicken Council (NCC) senior vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs, described the suspension of the proposal as a “standard process that every incoming administration does” to review them in light of administration policies. After that review is done, the administration will decide whether to move forward with the proposal.

“ We are hopeful that it will move forward,” Peterson said. “It would be unfortunate for the new administration to ignore three decades of science, data, and court decisions, in a move that would hamstring the U.S. poultry industry on a global scale. This might have been the most deliberative and studied rule that has ever been proposed.”

Line speeds of up to 175 birds per minute have been utilized in the U.S poultry industry for more than two decades, put forward by the Clinton administration, Peterson said.

“The modernized system has been studied, debated, and reviewed in depth for 25 years to assure its effectiveness in further modernizing chicken inspection while improving food safety and protecting workers,” Peterson said.

“While the poultry industry has been safely increasing line speeds over the past 25 years, our injury and illness rate has fallen 86 percent and is now at an all-time low, according to the most recent data from the Department of Labor. In fact, it is now lower than the “all-manufacturing” category for the first time ever. The line speeds in question deal with a part of the plant (evisceration) that is almost entirely automated today.”

There is also established scientific data - reinforced by a new study – that Peterson said demonstrates that evisceration line speeds do not affect food safety.

Opposition to increased line speeds

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and the related Humane Society Legislative Fund (HSLF), however, are hopeful that the line speed proposal will not move forward, alleging higher line speeds increase the risk of worker injury and poor animal welfare.

“The Biden Administration’s withdrawal of this pending rule is simply common sense,” HSLF President Sara Amundson said in a statement. “We will continue to work with the Biden Administration to make sure additional steps are taken to slow down line speeds across the industry to protect animal welfare and worker safety.”

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