Food

Washington — Seeking to “best assess” the impact of increased line speeds on worker safety in poultry-processing plants, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service plans to study the effects.

Durham, NH — U.S. seafood workers were twice as likely to contract COVID-19 as workers in other food industries during the height of the pandemic, results of a recent study indicate.

Chicago — A new Local Emphasis Program from OSHA is aimed at protecting workers in Wisconsin food manufacturing establishments from machine and amputation hazards.

Washington — Legislation recently introduced in the House and Senate is aimed at improving working conditions and whistleblower protections in the meat and poultry processing industry.

Washington — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service, in collaboration with OSHA, will allow select pork-processing facilities – on a trial basis – to operate at increased line speeds for up to one year while gathering data that “measures the impact of line speed on workers.”

Davis, CA — U.S. counties that are home to beef-, pork- and poultry-processing plants experienced accelerated COVID-19 infection rates during the pandemic, according to a recent study led by a researcher at the University at California, Davis.

Washington — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has indicated it will accept a March ruling of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota that prohibits the removal of maximum line speeds in pork-processing plants.

Minneapolis — The U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota upheld a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture on March 31, ruling that a controversial final rule that removes line speeds in pork-processing plants and transfers certain inspection responsibilities to plant workers compromises worker health and consumer welfare.

Washington — President Joe Biden on Jan. 22 signed an Executive Order withdrawing a controversial U.S. Department of Agriculture proposed rule that would have permitted line speeds at certain poultry-processing plants to increase to 175 birds a minute from the current 140.