Inspection Reform for Meat and Poultry

S.T.O.P. was credited by the USDA and President Clinton as being instrumental in effecting the first meat and poultry inspection reform in over 90 years. S.T.O.P. played a key role in the adoption of mandatory HACCP (Hazards Analysis and Critical Control Points) regulations which will hold industry accountable for their own product and which will institute a science-based government inspection system. For the first time in history, companies will be required to conduct microbial testing for bacteria. Government inspectors will also be testing for Salmonella, a harmful foodborne pathogen. S.T.O.P. members worked tirelessly from 1993 to the rule's final passage in 1996. We had to demand that consumers be invited to the policy-making table. We then attended dozens of meetings and briefings in Washington, D.C. as well as regional meetings throughout the United States. S.T.O.P. submitted scores of pages of public comments on the various aspects of the proposed rule. We worked extensively with media in demonstrating the need for meat and poultry inspection reform. S.T.O.P.'s efforts were largely rewarded in July 1996 when members were invited by President Clinton to be present in the Oval Office when he announced the new inspection regulation.

Juice Safety

As a result of the multiple raw juice and cider outbreaks in the fall of 1996, FDA called industry representatives and food safety experts to Washington, DC to discuss the problem. Incredibly, not a single victim or victim's organization was invited to attend. S.T.O.P. has since proven instrumental in mounting a campaign to ensure that consumers, particularly parents, are aware of the hazards of raw juices. S.T.O.P. members were successful in extending the public comment period on that meeting so that the victims could have input. They spoke with FDA officials almost weekly from May through August, 1996 and advised companies attempting to be leaders in reforming the juice making process. S.T.O.P. put together a press information packet that was released in conjunction with the FDA's juice labeling announcement. The FDA Notice of Intent published in August, 1997 was largely policy endorsed by S.T.O.P.

Accurate Consumer Education

In mid-1997, the USDA and many state public health departments organized misguided and erroneous public education campaigns that told consumers a safe hamburger was one that was cooked until brown in the middle. Hamburger can be completely brown and look fully cooked when in fact, it isn't, due to a phenomenon called "premature browning" or oxidation. Studies show that the only reliable indicator that hamburger is fully cooked is a thermometer reading 160 degrees, the temperature at which E. coli O157:H7 is killed. There is simply no guarantee, therefore, that a hamburger which is brown in the middle has been cooked thoroughly enough to have killed all pathogens. The government and industry insisted that consumers were not sophisticated enough to understand the message that an internal temperature of 160 degrees was the only reliable indicator of a safe hamburger; they wanted to give a measurement that consumers could use without a thermometer. S.T.O.P. demanded that consumers had a right to know the truth, charging that the brown in the middle campaigns endangered our families' lives. Days before the government's first national conference devoted to exploring new strategies for educating consumers, the government reversed its position about brown in the middle and now provides a time-temperature message.

Accurate Hudson Foods Recall

S.T.O.P. also played a key role in connection with the August 1997 Hudson Foods hamburger patty recall. From our own investigation, members learned that the initial recall was grossly underestimated and that contaminated product was distributed to top retailers across the country. The initial recall of 20,000 pounds grew to 25 million pounds after examining Hudson's records. S.T.O.P. alerted the media to warn the public about the threat the contaminated product posed to public health. We provided information showing that Hudson Foods initially underestimated the recall and that USDA prevented the public from getting precisely the information consumers want to know when a recall occurs: what products are involved and where they are sold. The day after the Wall Street Journal ran an article critical of USDA's recall policy, the Secretary of Agriculture announced that the Department would ask Congress for mandatory recall authority and the authority to assess civil fines and penalties.

Other

Other significant accomplishments of S.T.O.P. members include:

• The Lauren Rudolph Food Safety Act of California, signed into law on Wednesday, August 27, 1997. This bill requires that designated ready-to-eat foods served in California are heated to minimum internal cooking temperatures. The bill also requires that potentially hazardous foods in certain cases be reheated to a minimum internal temperature