United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Under Secretary for Food Safety, Dr. Richard A Raymond in a news conference on Thursday that the new "robust" risk-based inspection (RBI) will be carried out in 254 processing plants in 30 locations starting in April. The plan is expected to expand to 150 locations by the end of 2007.
According to AP reports, the newly-designed policy is set to increase scrutiny of processing plants for the threat of E. coli and other germs. Following the initial inspection, the plants with fewer risks of germs will be inspected less often. The motive behind the RBI is to prevent outbreaks before it erupts.
"To continue to prevent foodborne illness, we have to improve our prevention capabilities, not just respond quickly after an outbreak occurs," said Raymond. "Our inspectors visit every one of these plants every day and that won't change. What will change is we will no longer be treating every plant like every other plant in terms of its adverse public health potential," he added.
According to reports, nearly 1,200 plants might be part of the new system by Jan. 1, next year. The federal law makes daily inspections of the plants as mandatory and said that the changes would apply only to processing plants and not to slaughter plants.
