A recent ruling from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has upheld the authority of swine plant employees to pre-sort animals prior to slaughter under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s New Swine Inspection Service (USDA’s NSIS). The decision was made in response to a lawsuit that argued NSIS’ Modernization of Swine Slaughter Inspection Rule is contrary to the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) and violates the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
According to the Rule, establishments that elect to operate under NSIS are required to sort and remove unfit animals before pre-slaughter inspections that are conducted by USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) inspectors, as well as to trim and identify defects on carcasses and animal parts before post-slaughter inspections by FSIS inspectors. USDA states that the new process allows for FSIS to conduct more efficient inspections, as inspectors will be presented with healthier animals and carcasses with fewer defects, which frees up agency resources to conduct other, offline inspections that are more successful in ensuring food safety.