⁍ Tyson said the changes would improve food safety and efficiency.
⁍ Some activists worried they could result in less oversight.
⁍ The USDA granted the waiver in March 2020.
– In March 2019, Tyson Foods applied for a waiver from federal inspection requirements at its beef plant in Holcomb, Kansas. The Department of Agriculture granted the request a month later, and in March 2020, the USDA granted the waiver, allowing Tyson workers at the plant to check cattle carcasses for things like blood clots, bruises, and disease before they’re butchered, Reuters reports. Now, the company will replace the 17 USDA inspectors at the plant with 15 Tyson employees. “This is a way to leverage new technology and plant employees to implement these steps, that will free up some inspectors to focus on improving public health, animal welfare, and food safety,” says James Roth, director of Iowa State’s Center for Food Security and Public Health, which worked with Tyson to develop training materials for workers. But not everyone is thrilled. “It’s really problematic,” a Food & Water Watch senior staff attorney says.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tyson-foods-beef-inspections/tyson-foods-workers-to-replace-some-federal-inspectors-at-us-beef-plant-idUSKBN27C35O