USDA Recalls: They'll give you all the info. If they feel like it.
On Friday, the AP published an article about the USDA’s plan to announce the “retail consignees” of recalled meat and poultry products –– the stores where they were sold. This rule has been in the works for nearly two years, and has been held up by pressure from the food industry. Finally, after all this time, the information may be made available so consumers can figure out, without having to dig in the freezer and scour packaging for tiny numbers on a tiny seal, whether the meat they’ve bought is part of a recall.
That is, if the problem causing the recall is deemed serious enough by the experts at USDA. For instance, the potentially Mad Cow-infected beef involved in the largest recall in U.S. history would not have been covered under this new proposal. Because the agency deemed this situation a “Class II” recall, their new policy would not apply –– meaning you’re not allowed to know which retailers sold it.
The problem is, USDA has watered down the rule to the point where this information would only be released for some recalls, based on a system they’ve constructed of “recall classes.” Under this new rule, a Class I recall merits giving the public all the available information, but classes II and III do not. Unfortunately, the decision–making process for what class a particular recall will fall into is still a bit mysterious; if USDA decides it’s not likely you’ll die from the problem sparking the recall, they can slot a recall into a lower class. But don’t you want to know where you might have bought any recalled goods –– even if you will probably live through it?
More importantly, the decision about telling consumers where recalled products were sold shouldn’t be left up to USDA. After all, all these items have been recalled. If it was serious enough for a recall, isn’t it serious enough to let consumers get all the information they need to actually avoid the product?
