Comments on: What’s Important to Local Food Consumers?

By: Sara

Sara — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 12:51:55 +0000

Rebecca: I stand corrected. I was meaning inspection in general, not strictly USDA. My beef is processed at a local plantunder a USDA-trained state inspector, so I guess is not technically USDA-inspected. And I agree with you that it is silly that state-inspected meat is not considered equivalent to USDA-inspected.

Those large plants do undergo additional random testing for E. coli, compared to the smaller plants. I’m not at all sure what the real relative incidence of food safety issues are in the big versus small plants. On the one hand, the number of people affected on a small-plant problem might keep it from being identified. On the other hand, the closer relationship between the processor and consumer tends to keep accountability higher than any amount of regulation and inspection can.

By: Rebecca T. of HonestMeat

Rebecca T. of HonestMeat — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 00:45:50 +0000

Actually, a lot of meat is processed in small custom facilities or retail butcher shops (both standalone or within supermarkets), as well as within restaurants who break down whole animals or primals. I find it ironic that having a USDA inspector standing over your shoulder does little to nothing to improve food safety. Also, there are a large number of states that have determined that state inspection is equivalent to USDA inspection in terms of retail sales. But you are right in terms of sheer volume.

By: Sara

Sara — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 05:02:47 +0000

Rebecca–I agree that transparency in both processing plant violations and brand labels is desirable.

However, since it is necessary to process in a USDA-inspected plant to legally sell beef in most (if not all) places, it is not surprising that all major recalls occurred in USDA-inspected plants.

By: Rebecca T. of HonestMeat

Rebecca T. of HonestMeat — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 02:01:20 +0000

I’m sure people are less assured by the USDA-inspected label than they were 7 years ago. All of the major meat recalls have come from USDA-inspected plants. As a meat producer myself, it seems more folks want to know the reputation of the slaughterhouse and whether the animal was killed ‘humanely’. Sure would be nice if all of the violations that a particular slaughterhouse racked up over time became public information and that perhaps they were given a grade or score. That would benefit both the rancher trying to find the best slaughterhouse and the consumer trying to find the safest meat.

By: Andrew MacRae

Andrew MacRae — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:08:51 +0000

What’s really interesting is that people list food safety as a top concern - I doubt that’s changed in 7 years.