January 30, 2002

Former top USDA official joins Sens. Clinton, Harkin in salmonella fight

by Dan Murphy

A former top food-safety official has joined forces with consumer advocates and Capitol Hill legislators readying a bill to restore the Agriculture Department's authority to impose microbial performance standards, according to an industry source.

Former USDA Undersecretary for Food Safety Mike Taylor was quoted in Food Chemical News as calling on Congress to provide the statutory authority for USDA officials to close meat plants based solely on the results of microbial tests, an authority removed by a court ruling in Supreme Beef Processors v. USDA last year.

"To protect the public," Taylor was quoted in the story, “the old law should be replaced by a modern one that empowers and directs USDA to build performance standards into the HACCP system and to carry out a public health-oriented inspection program."

Consumer advocates and their allies on Capitol Hill -- Sens. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) -- have pledged to support legislation that would give USDA the power to enforce the Salmonella Performance Standard despite the fact that it was overturned by federal judges at both the district and appellate court levels.

This article reprinted with permission from Meat Marketing and Technology Magazine.

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