US Department of Agriculture pushes for weaker rules on poultry industry - World Socialist Web Site
►http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2012/12/20/usda-d20.html
By James Brewer
20 December 2012
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is preparing to implement new rules for the poultry industry that will mean up to a fivefold increase in production line speeds. The rules will also turn over quality control monitoring currently done by USDA inspectors to employees of the poultry companies, at a cost of 1,000 jobs of federal inspectors. The USDA announced the plan last January with the intention of finalizing it by the end of the year, after a pilot program involving 20 plants.
Currently, line speeds are limited to 35 chickens per minute. The new rules will allow speeds of up to 175 birds per minute—almost 3 per second. The opportunity for workers to visually inspect the carcasses is effectively eliminated. USDA inspection, which now is maintained at three inspectors per production line, is cut to a single inspector at the end.