Take Action! 1/3 of a Second Isn’t Long Enough to Keep Food and Workers Safe

As Thanksgiving preparations begin, take just a moment to help stop a proposed new rule that would make food and workers less safe next year.

A new rule proposed by the USDA would increase line speed in poultry plants, giving inspectors only 1/3 of a second to inspect each chicken — risking your food and workers’ safety. Help stop the USDA poultry rule:

  1. Send a short email to your U.S. Senators: Click here for your senators and send them a short message: “Please tell the USDA to stop the poultry rule.”
  2. Tweet at the USDA. For example: “1/3 of a second isn’t long enough to keep food and workers safe.” Or “In 1/3 of a second, I can blink, but I can’t inspect a chicken.” @USDA #PoultryRule

Former poultry inspector Phyllis McKelvey delivered 177,000 Change.org petition signatures to Washington, D.C. last week! Thanks to those who previously signed Phyllis’s petition! Now our senators need to hear directly from their constituents about the rule.

Background: Meat and poultry processing lines already move at dangerously fast speeds. The USDA’s proposed new rule would further increase line speed in poultry plants to 175 birds per minute, giving inspectors only 1/3 of a second per bird to look for fecal contamination, bile, diseases, tumors, feathers, intestines, and any other defects. Could you do that in one-third of a second? The new rule will:

  • Raise the likelihood of contaminated chicken on your plate.
  • Contribute to higher rates of crippling repetitive-motion injuries in poultry plant workers.
  • Allow individual poultry plants to decide whether they want to test for E. coli and other bacteria.
  • Replace federal inspectors with plant employees.

Take action to stop the proposed poultry rule and ask your U.S. senators to slow work speed in meat and poultry plants. Click your state for your US Senators’ contact pages.

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