A recent USDA report has some unappetizing findings about the levels of residues from veterinary drugs, pesticides and heavy metals found in meat.
The department of agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service is supposed to monitor the amount of residues in meat and prevent adulterated meat from reaching consumers. But a recent audit by the Office of the Inspector General found the agency’s tracking system isn’t working, and contaminated meat is entering the marketplace.
From the report:
FSIS does not recall meat adulterated with harmful residue, even when it is aware that the meat has failed its laboratory tests. Between July 12, 2007, and March 11, 2008, FSIS found that four carcasses were adulterated with violative levels of veterinary drugs and that the plants involved had released the meat into the food supply. Although the drugs involved could result in stomach, nerve, or skin problems for consumers, FSIS requested no recall.
More than 90 percent of the residue violations in 2008 came from “bob veal” — meat from male calves born to dairy cows — and hamburger from dairy cows that are slaughtered after their milking days.
Another problem identified by the report is that the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency haven’t established safe levels for certain contaminants. For example, in 2008 Mexican authorities rejected a shipment of U.S. beef because it contained dangerous levels of copper. But since there are no established standards for copper in meat, FSIS wasn’t able to keep the product from being sold in the U.S.
The FSIS has pledged to resolve the issues spelled out in the report. But, as Grist notes, many of the same problems were highlighted in a 2008 report and still persist.
Read more at Grist.
