The Department of Agriculture in response to a critical report from the Washington Post says the newspaper “deciding to reprint the talking points of special interest groups while claiming the agency declined interview requests.”
USDA jabs back in the opening of its response:
“The Washington Post says that democracy dies in darkness.”
“If that’s the case, then The Washington Post’s story about the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service is a solar eclipse.”
The Washington Post published a story titled, “Pork industry soon will have more power over meat inspections,” which the pork industry and now USDA have criticized.
The story focuses on the proposed New Swine Slaughter Inspection System, first proposed in February after “a 20-year evaluation,” according to USDA.
Of the many facts disputed in the article, Washington Post reported:
“…the responsibility for identifying diseased and contaminated pork would be shared with plant employees.”
However, USDA says under both the proposal and traditional inspection, establishment employees sort market hogs before FSIS inspection.