10/25/07 Best Meat Inspection

There seems to be quite a difference in how meat products get inspected. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be right back to give you some details. An editorial by Roger Johnson, a commissioner with the North Dakota Department of Agriculture and president of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture in the Western Livestock Reporter caught my attention with his comments on state inspected meat products. Mr. Johnson says an outdated law prohibits the sale of state-inspected beef, poultry, pork, lamb, and goat meat across state lines, but meat and poultry products from 38 foreign countries can be shipped and sold anywhere in the United States. This wouldn't seem too unreasonable until you know the different inspection standards used. State inspected meat programs have annual audits of compliance procedures that require a 125-page document. Federal inspections by the USDA have an audit document for checking foreign meats that is a one-page checklist. In 2005 we imported 4.3 billion pounds of foreign meat and poultry products, which amounts to about 20 percent of the red meat the U.S. population consumes. The understaffed USDA inspectors estimate less than 10 percent of imported meat was examined in 2005. The U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation and bipartisan legislation has been introduced in the Senate to help state inspected meats have access to the same American markets that foreign meat products enjoy. Now, that's only reasonable. I'm Jeff Keane. Western Livestock Reporter 10/10/07