Poultry rule prompts Food & Water Watch to take legal action against the USDA

Sep 15, 2014

The interest group called Food & Water Watch is suing the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to try and stop the implementation of the new Poultry Inspection System rule from taking effect.

The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service branch amended its new inspection legislation to allow poultry processing plants to increase their line speeds to operate at 140 birds per minute. Though, the final rule will permit 20 chicken plants operating under USDA’s pilot initiative to use higher line speeds. In addition, the final rule shifts federal meat inspectors from production floor duties to do more offline inspection related tasks, which means much of the oversight power is now given to plant employees.

Food & Water Watch, argues that the new system violates the Poultry Products Inspection Act, a law passed in 1957 that says USDA has a duty to protect consumer health. The organization who filed the suit, alleges that the new rules violate a number of statutory requirements, and infringes on the requirement that government inspectors supervise slaughter processing.

According to court documents, the suit is being brought by Food & Water Watch, and two individual plaintiffs, Margaret Sowerwine and Jane Foran. Defendants include the Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and other high ranking officials from the USDA. The filings say that consumers would be put into harm’s way if the new rule was to be implemented.

The group also says that the government did not allow for an opportunity to provide comment through an online forum or a public meeting. Specifically, the Food & Water Watch says that there were changes made to the final rule that were not outlined in the proposal for public review.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.