``FDA policy-maker tapped to head inspection agency
A top policy-maker at FDA is the new administrator at FSIS.
Michael R. Taylor, 45, FDA's deputy commissioner for policy, took over Aug. 15. A lawyer, Taylor had overseen policy- and rule-making since 1991.
He had a role in such issues as food safety, biotechnology, nutrition labels and pesticides.
He was chosen because of his "strong commitment to consumer protection and the development of science," said USDA Secretary Mike Espy.
While at FDA, Taylor helped develop a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point program for the seafood industry. USDA is currently writing a HACCP rule for the meat and poultry industries.
The move could quell criticism that USDA allows consumer protection to take a backseat to its mission of promoting meat sales.
Terry L. Medley had been FSIS' acting administrator since H. Russell Cross resigned in February.
AAMP urges embattled Espy to resign from USDA
The American Association of Meat Processors believes embattled USDA Secretary Mike Espy has lost the confidence of his employees, and is "sadly out of touch and ignorant" of department activities.
In a resolution adopted during their annual convention in July, AAMP members called for Espy's resignation. He "has unrelentingly proceeded to establish regulations and policy that ignore the fact that a team effort is required to achieve meaningful food safety," according to the resolution. "[He] has ignored lawful procedures to promulgate these policies."
AAMP has sent the resolution to members of Congress.
Meanwhile, Espy is the subject of two separate investigations.
An independent counsel and the Office of Government Ethics are investigating whether Espy broke the law by accepting "at least several hundred dollars" worth of gifts from Tyson Foods Inc. The gifts include sporting event tickets, free travel and lodging.
A three-judge court will name the independent counsel.
Attorney General Janet Reno said a preliminary probe uncovered several instances of Espy allegedly receiving gifts from organizations and individuals with business pending before USDA, although no evidence has been found that Espy accepted the gifts as a reward for past or future acts.
The independent counsel will also investigate allegations that Espy's chief of staff, Ronald Blackley, ordered USDA officials to halt work on developing tougher poultry inspection standards, and that he ordered the officials to erase a proposal from their computer memories. Blackley denies the charges.
The standards for the Office of Government Ethics cover whether a federal official can properly accept travel and gifts from companies that do business with the official's agency, according to White House Counsel Lloyd Cutler.
"I will be cleared," Espy said of the allegations. "All of this can be explained." He declined to give details in his defense because the case is pending.
Critics question whether Espy's relationship with the poultry industry was related to a delay in tougher inspection procedures that the poultry industry, including Tyson Foods, opposed. Such regulations were adopted after pressure from consumer groups.
USDA investigators in July concluded that Espy's acceptance of the gifts constituted a technical violation of the Meat Inspection Act of 1907. That law prohibits anyone who regulates meat from accepting anything of value from the companies they regulate. Conviction requires a one-year prison sentence.
USDA revamp blocked; could affect inspection
A bill to reorganize USDA and allow Secretary Mike Espy to begin closing field offices has been put on indefinite hold because of a dispute over environmental regulations, a move that indirectly could lead to a push to take FSIS out of the department.
An amendment by Rep. Gary A. Condit (D-Calif.) to a House Agriculture Committee bill would require USDA to establish a risk-assessment office that would make sure regulations don't do more economic harm than environmental good.
As a result, field offices slated for closure are still open and employees are in limbo over their futures.
USDA's position on the amendment is unclear. "We're trying to work with the committee to try to address that issue," said James R. Lyons, assistant secretary for natural resources and environment. "I'm not sure how we'll come out on that."
The committee could send the bill to the House floor with the Condit amendment. But that would open it up for more amendments. For the meat industry, it could mean lawmakers unhappy with FSIS could try to take the inspection agency out of USDA.
The Senate has already passed a USDA reorganization plan that keeps FSIS inside the department. Any discrepancies would need to be worked out in a House-Senate committee.
GAO report deems HACCP 'best' for meat inspection
A Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point program is the best approach to food safety because it focuses on prevention rather than detection, according to a report.
In its report, "Food Safety: Risk-Based Inspection and Microbial Monitoring Needed for Meat and Poultry," the General Accounting Office recommended that USDA "develop a mandatory HACCP system that includes specific requirements for microbial testing and guidelines for determining when microbial test results warrant action by the plant."
USDA "should assist meat and poultry plants in the development of their microbial testing programs," the report stressed.
The GAO said current inspection methods are inefficient or ineffective, and that FSIS does not use its resources to protect the public from the most serious health risks associated with meat and poultry: microbial contamination.
"Inspectors rely on their senses [smell, touch and feel] to make judgments about disease conditions, contamination and sanitation," the report pointed out. "However, these inspections cannot detect microbial contamination."
Citing "inflexible" legal requirements and "outdated labor-intensive inspection methods," the report said Congress should amend the meat and poultry inspection acts to provide USDA with the discretion to target its inspection resources to the most serious food safety risks.
USDA is currently writing a proposed HACCP regulation.
The GAO contacted 157 meat and poultry plants during its investigation between April 1993 and January 1994. Of those, 76 conducted periodic microbial testing on equipment, products and plant environment. But with little assistance from FSIS, the sampling and evaluation were inconsistent, according to the report.
GAO also reported that small plants do not use microbial testing.
The report, requested by Reps. Charles Stenholm (D-Texas), Steve Gunderson (R-Wis.) and Harold Volkmer (D-Mo.), cited the following example:
During the slaughtering of cattle, hide removal is considered a critical control point. If the hide, which is not cleaned before slaughter, is not properly removed, it could contaminate the carcass. Under a HACCP system, a plant quality control employee could observe the hide removal process on a regular basis to ensure that proper procedures were enforced.
Ex-FSIS chief to lead
Texas food safety center
H. Russell Cross has been named director of Texas A&M University's Institute of Food Science and Engineering and its division, the National Center for Food Safety.
The food safety center will focus on issues such as biotechnology; new pathogen identification, as well as pathogen control; nutrition and public health; and new food production and safety technologies.
Cross, who returned to Texas A&M earlier this year after resigning as FSIS administrator, said the institute will bring together scientific, medical and public health, animal health, nutrition, economic, and social disciplines to the food policy arena. Before arriving at FSIS in 1992, he was a professor of animal science at Texas A&M for nearly a decade.
Packerland names two
Green Bay, Wis.-based Packerland Packing Co. has announced two appointments.
Gary B. Miller has been named vice president of sales. He joins Packerland from Plainwell, Mich.-based Murco Inc., and previously worked for IBP Inc., Dubuque Packing Co. and Tama Packing Co.
Lee C. Davis has been named vice president of human resources. Davis, formerly director of human resources, has been with Packerland for three years.
USDA tabs executive
from World Bank for post
August Schumacher Jr. is the new administrator of USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service. He comes to USDA from the agricultural group at the World Bank. He also served as Massachusetts' commissioner of food and agriculture from 1985 to 1990.
"Schumacher's distinguished service at the World Bank and in Massachusetts qualifies him to lead the Foreign Agricultural Service," USDA Secretary Mike Espy said. "His strengths are in international trade and development, which are vital to the success of [American]
farmers."
Health officials urge irradiation for beef
Experts seeking to protect Americans from food-borne bacteria recommend that some hamburger meat be treated with sterilizing irradiation.
A committee of federal and private health officials say treating raw meat with irradiation will kill E. coli 0157:H7.
The report says that the current meat inspection system cannot detect E. coli and that new scientific technology must be applied to the food chain "from the cow on the farm to the table."
"There are no other methods short of irradiation or thorough cooking," said Dr. Martin Brotman, chairman of the committee and faculty member at California Pacific Medical Center.
He said irradiation may be the only way to control E. coli contamination in raw beef without affecting its quality. He also said the health benefits of irradiation would outweigh the cost to industry.
FDA has approved irradiation of pork and poultry. An application seeking approval for using the technique on beef, supported by USDA, is pending.
Brotman said the committee's proposal did not call for all hamburger meat to be zapped but for consumers to be allowed to choose between irradiated beef or traditionally processed meat.
But even if irradiation is approved, Brotman said no American should assume uncooked beef is safe from the bacteria.
"You cannot guarantee sterility," he said. "What you have to do is reduce the risk."
Brotman said the annual national cost of treating E. coli infections is estimated at $216 million to $580 million.
The 15-member committee organized by the American Gastroenterological Association said the public would need to be educated about the health safety benefits of irradiation.
A Gallup Poll conducted last year for AMI showed that the more consumers know about irradiation, the more likely they are to endorse it as an effective and safe way to destroy bacteria. The problem is not many people have knowledge about the process.