Letter on Mad Cow Disease
February 9, 2006
Dr. Richard Raymond, Under Secretary
Office of Food Safety
Room 227E, James L. Whitten Building
12th Street and Jefferson Drive, S.W.
Washington, DC 20250
Dear Dr. Raymond:
We are writing concerning several postings on websites controlled by the United States Department of State that refer in a pejorative manner to employees who work for the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). We are requesting that you take immediate action to have those documents removed.
Specifically, we are referring to Question 14 of the Questions and Answers on Bovine Spongiform Encepholapathy (BSE) that is posted on the website of the U.S. Embassy in Japan, and two stories regarding the recent controversy surrounding veal products from Atlantic Veal and Lamb that contained central nervous system tissue in contravention to our agreement with the country of Japan on beef exports to that nation.
We have included the documents for your reference.
Question 14 of the BSE Questions and Answers
“Q14. Union Chairman's Allegation on inadequate SRM removal.
A14. USDA does not tolerate any breach in our SRM removal process because we recognize that it is the key to ensuring food safety. The chairman of the National Joint Council of Food Inspection Locals made unsubstantiated and nonspecific allegations pertaining to SRM removal in a letter and public statements to news media. All allegations brought to USDA are vigorously and thoroughly investigated. In this case, despite repeated requests, the Chairman has declined to provide any specifics about where or when these incidents took place. In subsequent reviews of the SRM removal process, USDA/FSIS has not found any significant problems.”
The statements made in this document are clearly erroneous. As you know, the consumer group Public Citizen received documentation in August 2005 from FSIS in response to a Freedom of Information Act request which showed that a number of meat plants across the United States had violated the specified risk removal (SRM) regulations that FSIS had issued on January 12, 2004. Furthermore, the Inspector General for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued an audit report just last week that supported the findings of Public Citizen. We have also learned from your staff that FSIS was forced to suspend inspection in at least 10 plants that repeatedly violated the SRM regulations. While the Chairman of the National Joint Council of Food Inspection Local Unions did not divulge the sources of the allegations he originally made to his superiors at FSIS and subsequently to the media, he could not because the attorney representing the FSIS whistleblowers would not reveal their identities for fear that the agency would take retribution against them. It is apparent that these allegations have been substantiated. Consequently, the information on our Embassy website in Japan is wrong and should be removed immediately.
State Department Stories on the Atlantic Veal and Lamb Incident
There are two stories written by U.S. State Department staffer, Kathryn McConnell, which carry the blaring headline, “Inspector Error Led to New Japan Ban of U.S. Beef, Johanns Says,” that appear on the both the main website of the State Department and our Embassy website in Japan. It is interesting to note that the story that appears on the main State Department website also carries a sub-headline in much smaller font size that reads: “Processor, also at fault, taken off list of approved beef exporters,” while the story on our Japanese Embassy website does not.
It is our understanding that Secretary Johanns did make a statement to the effect that inspection personnel were being questioned about the improper shipment that was sent to Japan from Atlantic Veal and Lamb, and that USDA employees would be held accountable. However, in a meeting between consumer groups and the FSIS Management Council on January 31, 2006, your staff was very emphatic that the entire matter was still under investigation so no conclusions could be reached at this time, and it would be unfair to assign blame to any inspector or veterinarian at this point. Consequently, if the matter is still under investigation, who designated the State Department public affairs office to be the prosecutor, judge and jury of this incident?
If the State Department insists on treading on your jurisdiction, the very least it should do is to re-write those stories to reflect accurately the status of the investigation. However, we strongly urge you to have that material removed because it serves no constructive purpose.
We look forward to your response. Should you have any questions regarding our letter, please feel free to contact Wenonah Hauter at Food and Water Watch at (202) 797-6550.
Sincerely,
Wenonah Hauter
Food & Water Watch
Dr. Steve Suppan
Institute on Agriculture and Trade Policy
Rodney Leonard
Community Nutrition Institute
Enclosures
cc: Secretary Mike Johanns, U.S. Department of Agriculture
Secretary Condoleezza Rice, U.S. Department of State
Dr. Richard Raymond, Under Secretary
Office of Food Safety
Room 227E, James L. Whitten Building
12th Street and Jefferson Drive, S.W.
Washington, DC 20250
Dear Dr. Raymond:
We are writing concerning several postings on websites controlled by the United States Department of State that refer in a pejorative manner to employees who work for the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). We are requesting that you take immediate action to have those documents removed.
Specifically, we are referring to Question 14 of the Questions and Answers on Bovine Spongiform Encepholapathy (BSE) that is posted on the website of the U.S. Embassy in Japan, and two stories regarding the recent controversy surrounding veal products from Atlantic Veal and Lamb that contained central nervous system tissue in contravention to our agreement with the country of Japan on beef exports to that nation.
We have included the documents for your reference.
Question 14 of the BSE Questions and Answers
“Q14. Union Chairman's Allegation on inadequate SRM removal.
A14. USDA does not tolerate any breach in our SRM removal process because we recognize that it is the key to ensuring food safety. The chairman of the National Joint Council of Food Inspection Locals made unsubstantiated and nonspecific allegations pertaining to SRM removal in a letter and public statements to news media. All allegations brought to USDA are vigorously and thoroughly investigated. In this case, despite repeated requests, the Chairman has declined to provide any specifics about where or when these incidents took place. In subsequent reviews of the SRM removal process, USDA/FSIS has not found any significant problems.”
The statements made in this document are clearly erroneous. As you know, the consumer group Public Citizen received documentation in August 2005 from FSIS in response to a Freedom of Information Act request which showed that a number of meat plants across the United States had violated the specified risk removal (SRM) regulations that FSIS had issued on January 12, 2004. Furthermore, the Inspector General for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued an audit report just last week that supported the findings of Public Citizen. We have also learned from your staff that FSIS was forced to suspend inspection in at least 10 plants that repeatedly violated the SRM regulations. While the Chairman of the National Joint Council of Food Inspection Local Unions did not divulge the sources of the allegations he originally made to his superiors at FSIS and subsequently to the media, he could not because the attorney representing the FSIS whistleblowers would not reveal their identities for fear that the agency would take retribution against them. It is apparent that these allegations have been substantiated. Consequently, the information on our Embassy website in Japan is wrong and should be removed immediately.
State Department Stories on the Atlantic Veal and Lamb Incident
There are two stories written by U.S. State Department staffer, Kathryn McConnell, which carry the blaring headline, “Inspector Error Led to New Japan Ban of U.S. Beef, Johanns Says,” that appear on the both the main website of the State Department and our Embassy website in Japan. It is interesting to note that the story that appears on the main State Department website also carries a sub-headline in much smaller font size that reads: “Processor, also at fault, taken off list of approved beef exporters,” while the story on our Japanese Embassy website does not.
It is our understanding that Secretary Johanns did make a statement to the effect that inspection personnel were being questioned about the improper shipment that was sent to Japan from Atlantic Veal and Lamb, and that USDA employees would be held accountable. However, in a meeting between consumer groups and the FSIS Management Council on January 31, 2006, your staff was very emphatic that the entire matter was still under investigation so no conclusions could be reached at this time, and it would be unfair to assign blame to any inspector or veterinarian at this point. Consequently, if the matter is still under investigation, who designated the State Department public affairs office to be the prosecutor, judge and jury of this incident?
If the State Department insists on treading on your jurisdiction, the very least it should do is to re-write those stories to reflect accurately the status of the investigation. However, we strongly urge you to have that material removed because it serves no constructive purpose.
We look forward to your response. Should you have any questions regarding our letter, please feel free to contact Wenonah Hauter at Food and Water Watch at (202) 797-6550.
Sincerely,
Wenonah Hauter
Food & Water Watch
Dr. Steve Suppan
Institute on Agriculture and Trade Policy
Rodney Leonard
Community Nutrition Institute
Enclosures
cc: Secretary Mike Johanns, U.S. Department of Agriculture
Secretary Condoleezza Rice, U.S. Department of State
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