Faster Poultry Line Speeds Could Mean Litigation

October 4, 2018

Labor and food safety advocacy groups could file suit over a new Food Safety and Inspection Service policy that will allow faster line speeds at some chicken slaughter plants, according to Agri-Pulse.  The newsletter reports that FSIS announced new criteria for allowing slaughter plants to increase their line speeds from 140 birds per minute to 175 birds per minute.  Only certain plants that have been participating in the New Poultry Inspection System for a year will be eligible.  Advocacy groups assert that NPIS plants are more likely to fail the FSIS performance standard for Salmonella, but the agency and the broiler industry dispute that.