One of the major responsibilities of the USDA is ensuring that the meat sold in grocery stores is free from dangerous pathogens and safe for human consumption. Yet a recent study from the agency's own Agricultural Research Service shows that current testing procedures could be letting huge amounts of dangerously unsafe chicken onto the market.
The study revealed that chicken is usually tested mid-way through the production line, immediately after being bathed in antimicrobial chemicals. It should come as a surprise to no one that these chemicals are causing false negatives, making contaminated meat appear to be free of salmonella.
In fact, a report from 2012 that compared testing done partway through the line to that done right before processed chicken was ready to be packaged showed that a disturbingly high 26.2% of all chicken was contaminated with salmonella. That's six times higher than the number of contaminated chickens discovered through the usual testing method that year.
The ARS is recommending that the USDA change its procedures and test chicken for harmful pathogens at the end of the production line, after these sanitizing chemicals have become inactive. Salmonella infections are a serious public health threat, and the USDA should be doing everything it can to identify potential outbreaks of this potentially deadly illness before anyone becomes sick.
Sign the petition now to let the USDA know that Americans demand safe meat in our supermarkets!
