According to a USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) 2019 ruling, pigs often become non-ambulatory “due to a transient metabolic state characterized by deep fatigue.” The condition “usually resolves completely” when the animal is cooled and rested.
Some non-governmental organizations, unsatisfied with the decision five years ago, chose to bypass FSIS and even the Secretary of Agriculture to take their “downer” concerns directly to the White House.
“The prevalence of pathogens such as Salmonella and Yersinia enterocolitica “It often happens when pigs are kept in cages filled with waste awaiting slaughter,” the letter to the White House said. “Since pigs that have fallen cannot get up, they are often kept in these filthy cages for long periods of time, lying in their faeces, exposing them to salmonella.” You are more likely to be infected with other harmful pathogens. Studies have shown that many of the fallen pigs are infected with H1N1 swine flu 8 and commonly harbor antibiotic-resistant Campylobacter. “
In a 2019 policy decision, FSIS said research by prominent experts like Temple Grandin of Colorado State University will give pigs time to recover before it is determined whether they are fit for slaughter. said he supports it. FSIS said stress should be avoided and controlled when handling pigs.
Seventy-five percent of livestock slaughtered in the United States are pigs, and an estimated 500,000 slaughtered pigs arrive at meat processing plants each year.
In a letter to President Joe Biden, activists demand the removal of the downed person. It is intended to eliminate pigs from the food supply in order to protect food safety and slaughterhouse workers.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 525,000 people are infected, 2,900 are hospitalized, and 82 die each year from infected pork.
“Slaughtering pigs that have been felled for food poses a significant food safety risk,” the letter asserts.
The USDA adopted regulations to protect nonambulatory adult cattle in 2007 and calves in 2016. In 2014, seven groups petitioned the USDA to have similar rules for fallen pigs, but in 2019 the petition was rejected. Rejected. Passing inspection poses no more public health risk than ambulatory pigs.
“Given the serious concerns over consumer and food safety . there is “Therefore, we respectfully urge your administration to make our food system safer for all and to introduce such regulations.”
The letter states that consumers have no way of determining whether the pork products they consume are made from slaughtered pigs.
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