POULTRY PRODUCTS INSPECTION ACT

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1957

UNITED STATES SENATE,

COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY,

Washington, D. C.

The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:30 a. m., in room 324, Senate Office Building, Senator Allen J. Ellender (chairman) presiding.

Present: Senators Ellender (chairman), Johnston, Holland, Humphrey, Scott, Symington, Talmadge, Aiken, Young, Thye, and Williams.

The CHAIRMAN. The committee will please be in order.

The committee is considering S. 313, S. 645, and S. 1128 to provide for the compulsory inspection of poultry and poultry products.

The first witness is Mr. Earl L. Butz, Assistant Secretary of Agriculture.

STATEMENT OF HON. EARL L. BUTZ, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE

Mr. Butz. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, we in the Department of Agriculture welcome the opportunity you have given us to take part in this hearing on bills to require compulsory inspection by this Department of poultry and poultry products.

The Department has given continuing study to the subject of compulsory poultry inspection since last year when a number of bills were introduced to provide for this activity.

We would reaffirm the position taken a year ago that the Department does favor the enactment of legislation providing for the compulsory inspection of poultry. We feel that such inspection is practical at this time, but would not have been only 2 or 3 years ago. This is true because of the tremendous changes which have taken place so rapidly in the production and marketing of poultry.

The three bills under consideration by this committee are similar in many of their provisions. They differ, however, in others.

Both S. 313 and S. 645 would provide ample authority for the Department to conduct a compulsory poultry inspection program which will afford maximum protection for the interests of consumers.

However, the Department would prefer the enactment of S. 313 with some modifications which, if the committee so desires, will be discussed later by Mr. Hermon I. Miller, Director of our Poultry Division.

S. 1128 contains many sections which are similar in intent and effect to those of S. 313 and S. 645; however, the Department recommends against S. 1128 as presently written largely for two particular reasons:

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1. It designates the agency within the Department of Agriculture which would be responsible for administering compulsory poultry inspection.

We believe this is contrary to good administration and in conflict with the policy established by Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1953, approved by Congress.

We believe the decision as to where any activity, including the compulsory inspection of poultry, is to be administered within the Department of Agriculture should be a responsibility of the Secretary.

2. S. 1128 specifically prohibits the interstate movement of so-called dressed or uneviscerated poultry. We are sure that Congress would not intend to impose unnecessary and unwarranted restrictions upon trading so long as the objective adequate protection of consumers— can be accomplished otherwise.

S. 313 and S. 645 both prohibit the interstate movement of dressed poultry, except between official establishments and then only when in accordance with rules and regulations of the Secretary of Agriculture. No real purpose would be served by prohibiting the interstate movement of dressed poultry so long as its movement can be controlled. The CHAIRMAN. Is that not your main objection to S. 1128? Mr. BUTZ. Those two objections are the main objections.

The Department would call attention to the fact that in both S. 313 and S. 645 the inclusion of the word "knowingly," particularly in the section dealing with penalties, would add to the difficulty of enforcement.

This would be true particularly because the word "knowingly" is not used in comparable sections of the Meat Inspection Act and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

Therefore, the courts could hold that a greater degree of proof might be required under the compulsory poultry inspection legislation than under other similar laws.

As background for the committee's consideration of this important legislation, I would like to review some of the activities of the Department in the food-inspection field and some of the changes which have taken place in the poultry industry over recent years.

The Department conducts a number of food-inspection programs under various authorities provided by Congress. All red meat which enters interstate commerce is required to be inspected under the Federal Meat Inspection Act passed in 1906.

The Department also conducts voluntary inspection services for processed fruits and vegetables and for poultry under the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946.

The food-inspection programs authorized by the Agricultural Marketing Act are of a service, nonmandatory nature. These programs, therefore, are available on a voluntary basis, and provide a service both to industry and consumers.

The Department's voluntary poultry-inspection program provides for detailed inspection of individual birds at the time of processing. The consumer can recognize when this inspection has been performed by a distinguishing mark which is in the form of a circle, and contains within this circle the words "U. S. Inspected for Wholesomeness."

This assures the consumer that the ready-to-cook poultry covered by this mark was processed in a plant which met the sanitary facility and

operating requirements of the United States Department of Agriculture, and, further, that at the time of evisceration every individual bird was examined by a qualified inspector, either a veterinarian or a lay inspector under the direct supervision of a veterinarian, to determine its fitness for human food.

Any bird which is not considered suitable for human food is condemned on the spot by the inspector and so treated as to preclude its use for human food.

The regulations under which inspection for wholesomeness is conducted represent the experience of a 29-year period during which this inspection has been in operation.

These regulations have been developed in accordance with the requirements of the Administrative Procedures Act which permits the public to participate in their formulation.

The high standards set forth in these regulations are designed to protect poultry consumers. The regulations incorporate the views of many scientists and of public health agencies as well as the Food and Drug Administration.

In fact, the sanitation requirements of these regulations provided the pattern for the suggested code for poultry plant sanitation which was published by the United States Public Health Service, and developed through the cooperation of public health agencies and industry.

The voluntary poultry inspection program has received wide acceptance. The use of this service has been expanding very rapidly in the last few years.

In 1951, for example, only 145 plants made use of this service; whereas today there are approximately 320.

In addition, there are approximately 150 applications for this service in various stages of clearance.

In 1956, approximately 12 billion pounds of poultry were inspected for wholesomeness under this program. This quantity represents about one-fourth of all poultry sold off farms last year. It represents approximately half of the poultry moving in interstate commerce. The poultry inspection service is under the supervision of highly qualified veterinary personnel. The staff of 514 professional people includes 315 veterinarians.

There are some staff members who have been in this poultryinspection work since its inception 29 years ago. All of those engaged in this inspection-for-wholesoleness work are employees of the Department, or are State employees licensed by this Department under a cooperative agreement with Federal supervision.

Under the poultry-inspection program plants that process poultry in dressed (uneviscerated) form which is to be used in another plant for the production of ready-to-cook poultry and poultry products under inspection for wholesomeness, are also required to meet rigid sanitary standards and operate under the supervision of the Department of Agriculture.

This assures that poultry is processed in a sanitary manner so that it may be moved as dressed poultry into plants for further processing under official inspection into canned or ready-to-cook form.

Unlike red meat, poultry is not always eviscerated in the same establishment where slaughtered. The sanitation requirements for

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plants producing dressed poultry which may later move to a plant for further processing under official inspection were inaugurated in

1951.

Since it is not possible to determine with definiteness whether poultry is fit for human food until evisceration takes place, no certification is made regarding wholesomeness under this plant sanitation requirement which in effect is only a prerequisite to inspection for whole

someness.

The present interest in making poultry inspection compulsory under Federal law represents a development which logically stems from the experience gained over the years under the Department's voluntary program.

During the last 3 or 4 years this interest has grown to the point where proposals for such legislation are being supported by most of the farm organizations as well as industry and consumer groups.

Perhaps a brief description of some of the changes which have taken place in the production and marketing pattern for poultry will be helpful in considering legislation for compulsory poultry inspection. During the last 20 years, poultry meat production from both chickens and turkeys has increased from 2.9 billion pounds live weight in the 1935-39 period to about 7 billion pounds in 1956. The per capita production of poultry meats has also increased.

Despite a growing population, consumers have been provided with about 80 percent more chicken meat and 120 percent more turkey meat in recent years than was true in the period of the late thirties.

The type of poultry being produced has also changed and areas of production likewise have changed. In the early thirties practically all of the poultry meat came from the general type farm and chicken meat produced was largely a byproduct of egg production. Today the great bulk of all poultry meat marketed comes from commercial-type operations.

Commercial broiler production was hardly recognized as an industry in the late thirties. In recent years the number of broilers produced has exceeded 1 billion head per year.

The production of turkeys likewise has become highly commercialized and turkey production is becoming concentrated in specific geographical areas. This centralization of poultry meat production has brought into being mass movements of poultry products in interstate commerce.

The retail merchandising of poultry has changed rapidly too. Today the housewife is offered poultry as a convenience food item to the same extent, if not to a greater extent, than most other foods.

During the past 20 years the puroduct offered for sale has moved through the phases from live to dressed or New York dressed, to birds which are ready-to-cook, and more recently to such convenience foods as fully prepared dinners, boned chicken and poultry meat pies which require no preparation by the housewife other than heating.

These trends are undoubtedly the cause of the tremendous expansion in the use of the Department's voluntary inspection service and also the reason why there is increasing interest in making poultry inspection mandatory by law.

I should like to point out, however, that there are some definite limitations to the benefits to be derived from compulsory poultry in