For Safety's Sake - Keep Meat Inspection Public, UK

Main Category: Nutrition / Diet
Also Included In: Public Health
Article Date: 08 May 2008 - 4:00 PDT

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UNISON, the union for meat hygiene inspectors, is calling on the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to resist calls to privatise meat inspection for safety's sake. The Meat Inspection Service currently protects consumers in England, Scotland and Wales and the decision over its fate is due out later today.

UNISON National Officer for Meat Inspectors, Simon Watson, said;

"The only way to protect public health is to keep meat inspection in the hands of government controlled inspectors. The public will not be able to trust that their Sunday roast is safe to eat, if it has been inspected by the abattoir's own staff?

"If meat inspection is privatised, the FSA will have a seriously limited ability to control large scale public health and hygiene issues. This would expose the public to a heightened risk of infections like e-coli and salmonella.

"There is an alternative to privatisation. UNISON is working with the meat hygiene service to deliver the 'transformed' meat hygiene service. This would bring increased efficiency and cost effectiveness without compromising public health and safety."

UNISON is also concerned that workers' rights will suffer. To be low cost, a private sector meat inspection service would have to rely on cheap, non- unionised, often migrant workers. Exploitation over long working hours and poor conditions would be rife.

Last week UNISON released the results of an Ipsos-MORI poll, which found that:

76% of people would like meat inspection in slaughterhouses to remain a government responsibility. Only 8% favour privatisation.

58% of people would feel less confident that meat would be safe to eat if the meat hygiene service were privatised, only 7% would feel more confident.

Ipsos MORI interviewed 2,024 adults aged 16 or over between 13th and 18th March 2008. Interviews were conducted face-to-face in-home and the data have been weighted to the national profile of Great Britain.

http://www.unison.org.uk