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Central Valley Meat Suspended for Humane Handling Violations
USDA announced this week that it continues to take aggressive action to investigate and respond to disturbing
evidence of inhumane treatment of cattle at Central Valley Meat in Hanford, Calif. FSIS notified Central Valley
Meat that the agency was immediately suspending the assignment of inspectors at the establishment on Aug. 19,
effectively halting slaughter operations at the establishment.
Within hours of being provided a video taken by an animal welfare organization, the department initiated an
investigation. FSIS dispatched several teams of investigators to California to continue gathering information
on the ground.
In terms of humane handling, FSIS found violations and suspended the mark of inspection. The teams will continue
to examine the violations which have been documented in the video.
In terms of food safety, the video footage provided to USDA does not show a "downer" animal entering
the food supply. However, the department is conducting a thorough investigation that encompasses food safety
and will respond appropriately to its results.
"Our top priority is to ensure the safety of the food Americans feed their families," said FSIS
Administrator Al Almanza. "We have reviewed the video and determined that, while some of the footage provided
shows unacceptable treatment of cattle, it does not show anything that would compromise food safety. Therefore, we
have not substantiated a food safety violation at this time. We are aggressively continuing to investigate the
allegations."
USDA food safety regulations state that if an animal is non-ambulatory disabled at any time prior to slaughter,
it must be condemned promptly, humanely euthanized and properly discarded so that it does not enter the food supply.
FSIS is responsible for ensuring that meat, poultry and processed egg products are safe, wholesome, and accurately
labeled and also works to ensure industry's compliance with good commercial practices and with the
Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, which requires that livestock be handled and slaughtered in a humane way.
Updates on FSIS Testing for E. coli
FSIS posts bi-weekly updates for the agency's raw ground beef E. coli sampling program. Included are
testing results of raw ground beef component samples for E. coli O157:H7 and
STECs from FSIS routine and follow-up sampling
programs. Also featured is data for non-O157 STECs by each non-O157 STEC serogroup.
To review testing results, go to www.fsis.usda.gov/Science/
Ground_Beef_E.Coli_Testing_Results/index.asp.
FSIS Policy Update
FSIS issues notices and directives to protect public health. All notices and directives are available at
www.fsis.usda.gov/Regulations_&_Policies/index.asp. The
following policy update was recently issued:
- Notice 50-12, Inspection Responsibilities and Authorities for Reducing Slaughter or Evisceration Line Speed
Get Answers at askFSIS
AskFSIS is a web-based technology and policy question-and-answer forum on topics such as exporting,
labeling, inspection, programs and procedures. In addition, askFSIS offers Really Simple Syndication
(RSS) feeds that link back to the Q&As. Visit https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20120921173049/http://askfsis.custhelp.com/ to view recently posted topics.
The following topics were recently updated:
Export Requirement Updates
The Library of Export Requirements has been updated to reflect changes in export requirements for the following countries:
- Colombia
- European Union
- People's Republic of China
Complete information can be found at https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20120921173049/http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Regulations_&_Policies/
Export_Information/index.asp.
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Last Modified:
August 24, 2012 |
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