Food safety is the meat industrys top priority. The livelihood and reputation
of our businesses depend on the consumer confidence in our products that weve
established over many years. Although the food safety profile of our products
continues to improve, it is not perfect. But we are continuously working toward
that goal.
We support removing from the marketplace meat and poultry products that are
subject to recall and doing so as quickly as possible. However, the requirement
in the proposed Consumer Recall Notification Act that a distributor of a
product must notify restaurants and stores within 24 hours of a public
announcement of a product recall does not recognize the complexity and scope of
the food distribution process.
In some instances, the 24-hour time frame that would be mandated by the bill
likely could be met. In other circumstances, however, because of the complexity
of the food distribution system, in terms of the number of parties that may be
involved and the layers of customers that may have received or used a product,
it can take several days perhaps up to three or four not hours, for everyone
who is affected by a recall to be identified.
It is important that when we legislate and regulate rules concerning food safety
and recalls, the requirements be not only meaningful, but achievable. Although
the measure is certainly well-intentioned, we cannot support a bill that would
mandate a requirement that is impossible to achieve for many companies no matter
how hard they try.
Source:
American Meat Institute