Bill Strengthens Meat and Poultry Safety Rules

US - Both of Wisconsin's U.S. Senators joined Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa in co-sponsoring legislation to strengthen rules against microbial pathogens in meat and poultry.

Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold say the measure, also known as 'Kevin's Law', would give the U.S. Department of Agriculture the authority to enforce food safety and sanitation standards that have been under attack in the federal courts.

The bill is named after Kevin Kowalcyk of Mount Horeb, who died in 2001 at the age of two from E. coli infection. A companion bill was introduced in the House of Representatives by Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Phil English (R-PA).

The Wisconsin Democrats say that in 1996, USDA adopted new rules to help them enforce basic safety and sanitation standards in the production of meat and poultry. These rules, called Pathogen Reduction and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points, are critical to ensuring that microbial pathogens are kept out of meat and poultry sold to consumers in restaurants and on grocery store shelves.

However, the meat and poultry industry has used lawsuits since then to stop the government from enforcing these important food safety standards.

Source: WisconsinAgConnection
calendar icon 5 July 2005
clock icon 1 minute read
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