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National Grange Appaluds USDA Food Safety Procedures
Grange Calls for Full Investigation of Delay in Presenting Evidence
(Washington, D.C.) - The National Grange, the nation’s oldest general farm and rural public interest organization, recently congratulated USDA Secretary Ed Schafer and his agency for their swift action in the investigation and recall of 143 million pounds of beef products including those products sold to school lunch and federal nutrition programs in 36 states.
Leroy Watson, National Grange Legislative Director explained, “The National Grange strongly believes that USDA has adequate food safeguards in place. We support USDA’s continuation of investigations of wrongdoing at the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company.” He also applauded USDA’s vigilance in overall food safety monitoring efforts and stated, “The consuming public should understand the serious efforts being taken to ensure a safe food supply, reassuring their faith in the domestic food safety laws and regulations.”
The Grange’s letter to USDA Secretary Schaefer also noted that the National Grange was surprised and concerned when it learned that the proper authorities were not presented with evidence of the possible violations at the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company until months after it was discovered. In the meantime, hundreds of thousands of American citizens could have become ill as a result of contaminated meat and an unknown number of animals could have suffered needlessly. “We question the motives of the group that recorded the video of possible violations, but then took months to contact the proper federal inspectors, “ commented Watson. “ We also hope that you will refer this issue to the appropriate authorities to determine whether or not there were civil or criminal violations of existing laws that arise from the failure to present this evidence to the proper authorities in a timely manner,” Watson wrote.
Humane handling and slaughter of animals is essential at meat packing plants. Clearly Congress has addressed this issue in the Humane Methods Slaughter Act and FSIS regulations. Watson concluded, “As USDA monitors future food production, National Grange is sure the department will continue to be diligent in maintaining safeguards to protect our nation’s food supply.”
The National Grange is the nation’s oldest national agricultural organization, with 3,000 state, county, and local grassroots chapters in 37 states. Grange members provide service to agricultural and rural communities on a wide variety of issues. Additional information about the organization’s positions is available at www.nationalgrange.org.
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