WASHINGTON (KFSM) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced new regulations on Thursday (July 31) concerning the safety of workers in poultry plants and processing line speeds, according to a news release.
One of the biggest announcements to come out of the regulations is that processing lines in poultry plants will continue to run at current speeds and will not increase, as originally proposed in 2012, the release states.
Members of the Northwest Arkansas Workers’ Justice Center traveled to Washington, D.C., in February to testify against a proposal aimed at increasing processing line speeds at poultry plants.
“The USDA proposed the ‘Modernization of Poultry Inspection’ rule in January 2012. Originally, it would have allowed poultry companies to increase the processing line speed from 140 to 175 birds per minute,” the release states.
Despite the news that line speeds will not increase, the Southern Poverty Law Center said that current line processing speeds are at a “dangerously fast pace.”
