The agricultural and food manufacturing industries face a continual challenge to provide consumers with the food products they want and expect and to market those products at an affordable price. This challenge includes safety, quality, nutritional value, and price. The food industries are continuously improving the products they make available to consumers. USDA monitors the food supply, according to prescribed Federal regulations, to ensure that meat and poultry products are safe and that labels are accurate and unlikely to confuse or mislead consumers.

How Do Consumers Feel About the Safety of Foods? ×Ö´®5

Consumer surveys indicate that most consumers consider the safety of food products when buying food. A 1990 survey of 1,005 food shoppers by the Food Marketing Institute ("Trends: Consumer Attitudes and the Supermarket," 1990, Washington, DC) reported that 91 percent of consumers considered safety to be at least somewhat important when shopping for food. The FMI survey also indicated that consumers were more confident about the safety of food in 1990 than they were in 1989: In 1989, only 58 percent of shoppers were "mostly confident" about the safety of food products, but in 1990, 64 percent of consumers felt "mostly confident" about the safety of the foods they purchased. Fifteen percent even felt "completely confident" in 1990. Respondents to the 1990 FMI consumer survey indicated that their specific food safety concerns were "spoilage and germs" (29 percent), insecticides and herbicides (19 percent), chemicals (16 percent), improper packaging (16 percent), and tampering (14 percent). ×Ö´®3

Consumers continue to be concerned about the use of agricultural pesticides and the use of antibiotics and hormones in animal production. However, shoppers were less concerned about the use of these agricultural chemicals in 1990 than they were in 1989. ×Ö´®1

How Does the Government Ensure the Safety of Meat and Poultry Products?

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The Federal agency responsible for ensuring that meat and poultry products moving in interstate commerce for use as human food are safe, wholesome, and accurately labeled is the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). The agency's employees, numbering more than 9,500, inspect meat and poultry for domestic consumption and export, and check imported meat and poultry products for compliance with the same standards that apply to domestically produced products. The agency employs veterinarians, food scientists, food microbiologists, pathologists, food inspectors, and others with specialized training for the job of ensuring food safety and regulatory compliance.

Over 7,000 FSIS inspectors work in almost as many meat and poultry slaughter and processing plants across the country. The Federal inspection laws require that a USDA inspector be present in all establishments on days when those establishments are in operation. In 1990, FSIS slaughter inspectors and veterinarians inspected more than 124 million cattle, hogs, and other meat animals, and 6.2 billion chickens, turkeys, and other types of poultry. Animals and birds were examined for signs of disease or other abnormalities, both before and after slaughter. Inspectors are obliged to check each animal and each carcass, and examine further those appearing suspicious. During the manufacturing of processed products, USDA inspectors reinspect products to ensure safety and compliance with the Federal meat and poultry inspection laws. In 1990, FSIS inspectors reinspected millions of pounds of processed products (for example hot dogs, chicken nuggets, and frozen entrees) that entered the retail market. ×Ö´®1

The inspection process is not limited to observing plant operations. Additional information is gained by testing products both in the plant and in laboratories. In 1990, FSIS conducted more than 2.2 million analyses on approximately 525,000 meat and poultry samples. Some 411,000 samples were checked for residues of 133 different animal drugs, pesticides, or other chemical compounds; and 35,000 samples were checked for bacteria and parasites.

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Each year, FSIS condemns hundreds of thousands of pounds of meat and millions of pounds of poultry that do not pass inspection requirements. Condemned products are marked so they cannot be used for human food. Products are condemned for many different reasons, including contamination with violative residues of animal drugs or other chemicals. With rigorous testing and scientifically based standards, FSIS found that only 0.3 percent of samples in 1989 contained residues at unacceptable levels. These results indicate the safe use of animal drugs and other chemicals for and around animals intended for food use in this country. ×Ö´®7

Imported meat and poultry must be produced under a system "equal to" that of the United States. To verify the effectiveness of foreign inspection systems, FSIS evaluates each exporting country's food inspection laws, policies, and operations; this includes physical reviews of foreign plants, laboratories, and training programs. Computer-selected random samples of meat and poultry products are reinspected when they enter the United States. Imports destined for use in processed products such as chicken pot pie and beef stew are reinspected a third time in U.S. food manufacturing plants. In 1990, 2.6 billion pounds of imported products were reinspected by FSIS inspectors.

Routine inspection activities can trigger a range of enforcement actions including product retention and a temporary halt in production until problems are corrected, intensified inspection, product recalls, and other actions. When meat or poultry products already in consumer channels are found to be potentially hazardous to consumers, FSIS asks the firm to recall the products, and consumers are alerted through a press release. FSIS investigates to be certain the recall is effective and that corrections are made so the firm distributes only safe and wholesome products.

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Keeping Consumers Informed About Food Safety Is Important ×Ö´®7

An important part of USDA's mission is to keep consumers informed about food safety and to recommend methods to keep foods safe during preparation, storage, and consumption. FSIS produces millions of educational pamphlets, as well as videotape teaching kits, a quarterly magazine for food editors, and other information on safe food handling. It also operates a Tollfree Meat and Poultry Hotline that consumers can call to ask for recommendations on keeping meat and poultry products safe. The Hotline continues to grow in popularity; in fact, over 80,000 consumers called it in 1990. The Hotline number is 800-535-4555; in Washington, DC, (202) 447-3333.

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FSIS also provides a variety of materials about FSIS and food safety issues. A list of FSIS publications is available from FSIS Publications Office, 1165 South Building, Washington, DC 20250.

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Inspection for Safety and Wholesomeness, Grading for Quality

Meat and poultry inspection and grading are two separate USDA programs. FSIS inspects meat and poultry products to ensure safety and wholesomeness. Only then may inspected meat and poultry be graded for quality by the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS).

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Grading is a voluntary program that is requested and paid for by food processors. Graders evaluate numerous attributes of meat and poultry that are described in the official U.S. grade standards. These attributes determine the value and utility of the products and include such variables as the amount of marbling in beef (fat interspersed within the lean tissue—an attribute relating to tenderness) and the freedom from defects of poultry (such as torn or missing skin—attributes relating to cosmetic appearance).

Grading is the standardized trading language that enables food wholesalers and retailers to buy and sell their products across the country, sight unseen. Consumers also use grades to help them make food purchasing decisions. ×Ö´®9

Conclusion

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Consumers have good reason to feel confident in the safety of the food supply. Meat and poultry products are continuously inspected and reinspected to ensure that they are safe, wholesome, and properly labeled. Food quality grading, a voluntary activity paid for by manufacturers, enables meat marketers to use a standardized language that facilitates the buying and selling of meat and poultry products; it also allows consumers to know characteristics, including tenderness and appearance, that help them decide what to buy. USDA also provides a wealth of information that enables consumers to understand more about how the safety of the U.S. food supply is protected. ×Ö´®3