We believe this proposed rule should be withdrawn because:
(1) Poultry inspection should be performed by trained USDA inspectors, not company employees. (2) The proposal to increase inspection line speeds up to the point where the remaining USDA inspectors must inspect three chickens per second is absurd. Such increased line speeds would only benefit the chicken slaughter industry, not American consumers. (3) USDA's claim that the new poultry inspection system will improve food safety is untrue. Food & Water Watch's analysis of USDA's HIMP pilot project - the pilot project upon which the proposed new inspection system is based - revealed that large numbers of food safety defects are routinely missed when inspection tasks are performed by company employees instead of USDA inspectors.
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