NATIONAL MEAT ASSOCIATION
STATEMENT
BY
ROSEMARY MUCKLOW
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
ON SCHOOL LUNCH CONTRACTING
APRIL 6, 2001
National Meat Association supports USDA’s decision that it needs to
complete a fuller review before publishing proposed changes in its school lunch
purchasing specifications for ground meat products, but is nonetheless
disappointed that the proposed changes posted on USDA's web site earlier this
week have been withdrawn.
The Department has restored, for the time being, end product
microbiological testing requirements for school lunch ground products, which
were announced last summer without notice or any opportunity for
discussion. Those requirements for end
product Salmonella testing significantly raised the cost of USDA's
ground beef acquisitions and prevented any acquisitions of ground poultry or
ground pork, without providing any significant improvement in food safety. School food service officials agree with
meat and poultry industry suppliers on the need for an open process to develop
better specifications. An open process
should have been followed, but was not, when these requirements were first imposed
last summer.
The draft specifications withdrawn by USDA were a proposal, open for
comment by interested parties. They
more closely paralleled the specifications used by commercial buyers of ground
meats and were based on testing and control of microorganisms at every step of
the production process, rather than by taking a single sample at the end of the
production line.
National Meat Association agrees with Secretary Veneman that the safety
of our food supply, particularly the food that is served in school lunches, is
extremely important. We look forward to working with USDA and all other
interested parties, to develop contract specifications that will maximize food
safety without either excluding important products such as ground poultry or
pork or substantially raising the cost of other products such as ground
beef.