New Pork Processing Rules Raise Food, Worker Safety Concerns

Oct 11, 2019

MINNEAPOLIS – Several labor unions filed a federal lawsuit in Minneapolis this week over controversial U.S. Department of Agriculture rule changes for regulating pork processing plants.

The plaintiffs say a key concern is a provision that removes maximum line speeds when bringing hogs to slaughter. They say allowing faster line speeds compromises worker safety as well as food safety.

Kim VanderWall, an assistant professor in the University of Minnesota's Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, said it could open the door for the spread of viruses in the supply chain.

"You could imagine if the carcasses are coming by more quickly," she said, "we might not detect the same things that we would detect if it was going a little bit slower."

The USDA has said the changes are intended to modernize the pork-processing system. They also include reducing the number of federal meat inspectors on processing lines by 40%. The complaint alleges that a combination of faster line speeds and fewer inspectors is asking for trouble, and aims to block the changes.

The trouble isn't only on the processing lines. VanderWaal said another example of how the changes could compromise food safety is through transportation. Even if a truck that arrives at a processing plant is perfectly clean, she said, all it takes is one tainted batch of product leaving the facility to create problems.

"Sometimes, they leave the slaughter plants with detectable virus on the surface of those trucks," she said, "and those trucks can go back to pick up more pigs within a farm, and that can be a potential way for farm spread of viruses."

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Video: What Does 20 MILLION Hogs a Year Look Like?

?? The Multi-Plant System Processing 20 Million Hogs Annually in the Midwest JBS USA operates multiple large-scale pork processing facilities across the Midwest, including major plants in Iowa, Minnesota, and Indiana. Combined, these facilities have the capacity to process approximately 20 million hogs annually.

Each plant operates high-speed automated slaughter systems capable of processing up to 20,000 head per day, followed by fabrication lines that break carcasses into primals, sub-primals, and case-ready retail products.

Hog procurement is coordinated through electronic marketing platforms that connect regional contract finishing operations and independent producers to plant demand schedules. This digital procurement system allows for steady supply flow and scheduling efficiency across multiple facilities.

Processing plants incorporate comprehensive food safety systems, including pathogen intervention technologies, rapid chilling processes, and integrated cold-chain management. USDA inspection is embedded throughout the harvest and fabrication stages to ensure regulatory compliance and product integrity. Finished pork products — from bulk primals to retail-ready packaged cuts — are distributed through coordinated logistics networks serving domestic and export markets.