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FEATURE SCRIPT – Centennial Celebration For USDA Meat Inspection
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INTRODUCTION: The U.S. Department of Agriculture celebrated a century of
meat inspection at a Washington, DC event. The USDA's Heather Downen was there.
Heather Downen, USDA (voice-over):
In 1906, unsanitary conditions in meat packing plants led to the Federal Meat Inspection Act, and the creation of
what would become the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. At USDA headquarters
in the nation's capital, officials and guests looked back on an important century and at the future of food safety.
Chuck Conner, USDA Deputy Secretary: Thanks to the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the scientific
advances along the way, we can, as consumers, be confident that our meat, poultry, and egg products are wholesome and
accurately labeled. In the meat industry alone, 7,600 FSIS personnel are assigned to over 6,000 federally inspected
facilities and their work is invaluable.
Downen (voice-over): Officials talked about new advances in meat inspection that have helped reduce
the number of foodborne illnesses.
Richard Raymond, USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety: The numbers in 2005 showed a decline in
E. coli O157 infection rates of 29 percent; Listeria monocytogenes is down 32 percent;
Campylobacter is down 30 percent, and Yersinia is down 49 percent. That's a lot of people that didn't
get sick this year that got sick ten years ago.
Downen (voice-over): Meat Inspection has been a key part of agriculture for the last 100 years. But USDA
also supports another important link in the food safety chain:
the consumer.
Dr. Barbara Masters, Administrator, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service: We also have a consumer
education arm with our agency and we do a lot of consumer education. We are going to be debuting a new magazine
this fall that will allow us to do even more work. But we do have a hotline that people can call if they have questions
about their meat and poultry products. We have a Web site which actually is available 24/7, so, it's a very important
arm that we have in our agency, so that consumers can get information that they need.
Downen (voice-over): In Washington, for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, I'm Heather Downen.
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Last Modified:
July 10, 2006 |
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