USDA Recall Product
Plan Flawed, Says AMI
ThePigSite News Desk
July 15, 2008
USDA will list retail stores receiving meat and poultry
products involved in Class I recalls, beginning next month, Secretary
of Agriculture, Ed Schafer, announced last week.
AMI has released a statement expressing strong opposition to
the move, saying that the Institute supports providing information that
consumers will find useful in determining whether they have a recalled product.
"The most accurate way to make this determination is to
rely upon product identifiers like code dates, plant numbers and brands
announced by recalling companies," said Mark Dopp,
AMI’s senior vice president, regulatory affairs and
general counsel.
Mr Dopp stated, "Although
this rule seems consumer-friendly on its face, it has the potential to mislead
and confuse consumers."
He explained that during recalls, product distribution
information can expand over time.
"A meat company may have sold a product to ten
distributors, and each of those distributors may have sold some of the product
to ten brokers and each of those brokers may have sold products to 20 retail
stores," he noted. "This complex shipping information is compiled and
updated over time. It is not typically available in a complete form when a
recall is announced," he said.
The announced rule is flawed, Mr Dopp
stated.
"If a consumer sees an early version of a list of
businesses that received recalled product, that consumer may conclude that he
could not have purchased the product.
"Three days later, the consumer’s local grocery store
may appear on the list but the consumer is unlikely to check the list again and
may consume recalled products," he explained.
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