USDA Proposal to Speed Up Hog Slaughter Line Is Challenged
- Analysis claims agency used dubious data to support proposal
- Increasing line’s rate caps part of plan to update inspection
An employee works on the production line at a pork processing facility in Missouri.
Photographer: Daniel Acker/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
A U.S. Department of Agriculture proposal to overhaul how hog slaughterhouses are inspected and allow faster production lines relied on flawed data that played down dangers to workers, according to an academic report issued Wednesday.
The USDA announced the inspection proposal in January. It would shift some of the responsibilities of federal inspectors to plant workers and lift caps on how fast hogs can be slaughtered as they move along the production line. Line speeds have historically been limited by the ability of government inspectors to examine each carcass. In hog plants, line speeds are currently capped at 1,106 hogs per hour.