Federal Meat Inspection Act, as amended, 21 U.S.C., 601 et seq Poultry Products Inspection Act, as amended, 21 U.S.C. 451 et seq.. "Meat and Poultry Inspection: The Scientific Basis of the Nation's Program," prepared by the Committee on the Scientific Basis of the Nation's Meat and Poultry Inspection Program, Food and Nutrition Board, Commission on Life Sciences, National Research Council, National Academy Press, 1985 (Execu- "Poultry Inspection: The Basis for a Risk-Assessment Approach," prepared by the Committee on Public Health Risk Assessment of Poultry Inspection Programs, Food and Nutrition Board, Commission on Life Sciences, Nation- al Research Council, National Academy Press, 1987 (Executive Summary).... "Experimentation With Procedures for Determining the Intensity of Inspec- tion Coverage in Processing Establishments; Waivers of Provisions of the Regulations, Food Safety and Inspection Service," 9 CRF, Parts 303 and 381, FR Vol. 52, No. 60, 10028-10033, March 30, 1987 Report on Food Safety and Inspection Service Meat and Poultry Inspection Program to Donald L. Houston, Administrator, Food Safety and Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, from Donn E. Adkisson, Assistant Inspector General for Audit, U.S. Department of Agriculture, September 26, Status Report of Actions Taken on Recommendations: Audit of Food Safety and Inspection Service Meat and Poultry Inspection Program, #38607-1- At, to Donald L. Houston, Administrator, Food Safety and Inspection Serv- ice, USDA, from Robert E. Miller, Acting Assistant Inspector General for Status of Recommendations, Audit #38607-1-At, FSIS Meat and Poultry Inspection Program, to Donald L. Houston, Administrator, Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA, from Steadie Mixson, Regional Inspector Gener- al for Audit, USDA, February 19, 1987..... Status of FSIS Actions Taken in Response to OIG Audit of FSIS Meat and Poultry Inspection Program (150-Plant Audit), #38607-1-At, report to James R. Ebbitt, Assistant Inspector General for Audit, USDA, from Donald L. Houston, Administrator, FSIS, USDA, March 27, 1987.... Letter to Kenneth A. Gilles, Assistant Secretary, Marketing and Inspection Service, USDA, from Peter C. Myers, Deputy Secretary, USDA, April 9, Memo to Peter C. Myers, Deputy Secretary, USDA, from Kenneth A. Gilles, Assistant Secretary, Marketing and Inspection Service, USDA, April 15, Resolution of the FSIS Meat and Poultry Inspection Program Audit #38607- 1-At (memorandum), to James R. Ebbitt, Assistant Inspector General for Audit, USDA, from Donald L. Houston, Administrator, FSIS, USDA, May 5, "Improving Sanitation and Federal Inspection at Slaughter Plants: How to Get Better Results for the Inspection Dollar," a report to the Congress by the U.S. General Accounting Office, July 30, 1981 (Executive Summary and Statement of James H. Hodges, Vice President, American Meat Institute, May 15, 1987, with attachments.... Statement of John Bailar for the Food and Nutrition Board, Commission on Life Sciences, National Research Council, May 15, 1987... Statement of Joshua E. Neiman, Legislative Representative, Food and Allied Letter to Senator Carl Levin from Angelo J. Aponte, Commission, Depart- "Meat and Poultry Contamination: A Silent Public Health Hazard," An Occa- sional Paper Issued by the Research Division of the New York City Depart- ment of Consumer Affairs, Heide K. Lang, Researcher, November 1986 Sworn statements of U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors detailing "U.S. Inspectors Find 37% of Chickens are Contaminated with Salmonel- Page 440 527 539 539 545 "Chicken Inspection Is Faulted," Irvin Molosky, the New York Times, May 13, 1987. 546 "Poultry Contamination Undetected, Report Says," Ward Sinclair, the Washington Post, May 13, 1987. 547 "The Great American Fish Scandal: Health Risks Unchecked," fact sheet, Public Notice for Food and Health Policy... 549 INVESTIGATION INTO FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE (FSIS) INSPECTION ACTIVITIES FRIDAY, MAY 15, 1987 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT OF GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENT, COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS, Washington, DC. The Subcommittee met at 9:40 a.m., pursuant to notice, in room 342 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Senator Carl Levin, Chairman of the Subcommittee, presiding. Present: Senators Levin, Cohen, Pryor, Stevens, and Roth. Staff present: Linda J. Gustitus, Staff Director and Chief Counsel; Mary Berry Gerwin, Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel, Frankie de Vergie, Chief Clerk; Richard Allen, Professional Staff Member; Robert W. Porter, Jr., Minority Professional Staff Member; Trina Bragni and Jeff Carter-Campbell, Interns. OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR LEVIN Senator LEVIN. Today the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management is looking into a most serious problem, the problem of food poisoning of American consumers from federally inspected and approved meat and poultry products. This hearing has been called at the request of the Ranking Republican Member, Senator Cohen, who last year initiated a General Accounting Office investigation into the Federal Safety Inspection Service which will be discussed by our GAO witness later this morning. I commend him for bringing this important issue to the Subcommittee's attention. Food poisoning is not a new problem. No doubt our prehistoric ancestors suffered illness or death when the food they ate was contaminated. More recently food poisonings from salmonella and other exotic bacteria have significantly increased in the United States in recent years. In fact, the number of reported food poisoning cases has doubled in the last 10 years, notwithstanding the fact that the Federal Safety and Inspection Service in the Department of Agriculture inspects and labels virtually every piece of meat and poultry that leaves a processing plant. In my State of Michigan, for example, the number of reported poisonings from salmonella in 1976 was 889. In 1986, 10 years later, the number of reported cases was 1,285, an increase of nearly 50 percent, even though the population has remained nearly constant. The Federal Government has contended with the problem of food safety since 1906 when Congress enacted the Federal Meat Inspection Act. That Act, as we may recall from our American history courses, was prompted by Upton Sinclair's novel "The Jungle' which described in graphic terms the terrible and unsanitary conditions in the meat processing plants. For the first time a Federal statute required Federal inspectors to inspect the slaughtering and processing of meat intended for interstate or foreign commerce to assure that the meat is wholesome and unadulterated. As a result, deaths from acute infections, the leading causes of death then, declined substantially. In 1957 Congress enacted the Poultry Products Inspection Act which requires the post-mortem inspection of each and every bird sold in interstate commerce. In 1967, as a result of studies that showed a significant percentage of meat and poultry was sold within the State in which it was produced, both the Meat and Poultry Inspection Acts were amended to require that all meat and poultry sold within the State also be inspected. Last year Congress enacted the Processed Products Inspection Improvement Act authorizing the Secretary of Agriculture to implement on a test basis a discretionary inspection program where he can determine which processing plants need continuous inspection and which ones need only occasional inspections because of their past compliance with guidelines. In 1986 Congress appropriated $350 million for FSIS to conduct its inspections to assure that meat and poultry products are safe for consumption by the American consumer. Over 7,000 Federal and State inspectors were assigned to conduct inspections. What is disturbing and the reason Senator Cohen requested this hearing-is the fact that notwithstanding the efforts of FSIS, food poisoning cases are rising significantly. Last year as many as four or five million Americans may have suffered food poisoning. Some of us may have suffered only an upset stomach and nausea for a relatively short period of time thinking it was the workings of a flu bug. Most likely we didn't report it to anyone. Others have suffered worse, being debilitated for several days or more. Worse yet is the fact that perhaps as many as 5,000 Americans died from food poisoning in 1986. Many of these victims were the young and the elderly. It seems inexplicable to me that in this age of modern technology the American consumers cannot be assured that the meat and poultry products they eat will not make them sick. On the other hand, there is a truism that I've known about for some time, nothing is simple. That seems to be the case here. Salmonella seems to be ubiquitous everywhere: In the farm yard; in the animal feeds; in the stock yards; in the transportation vans; in the slaughtering and processing plants; and, sad to say, in meat and poultry products that we buy in our favorite grocery store. What complicates the problem is the fact that we can't see salmonella with the naked eye. As dedicated and conscientious as the Federal inspectors are, they cannot know whether meat or poultry is contaminated with salmonella by just looking at it. And, of |