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Rule Change Proposed for Meat and Poultry Inspection

Legislation designed to amend USDA meat and poultry inspection rules has been introduced in the U.S. Senate. The bill submitted by Senator Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., would mandate pathogen treatment and expand labeling requirements on meat and poultry.

Specifically, the bill would prohibit the sale of any processed poultry, meat and FDA-regulated food that has not either undergone a pathogen reduction treatment, or been certified to contain no verifiable traces of pathogens. The labeling requirements would require labels on ground beef, or any other ground meat product, to list every cut of meat that is contained in the product. Finally, the bill would do away with what she called loopholes in current laws that allow for producers to add coloring, synthetic flavorings and spices to their products without informing the consumer.