Safe Food Coalition Opposes Bills That Would Deregulate Sales of State-Inspected Meat

In a letter addressed to key U.S. congressional leaders, the Safe Food Coalition (SFC), comprising a variety of food industry stakeholder groups and consumer protection organizations, expressed its opposition to pending federal legislation that would lift prohibitions on the interstate sale of meat and poultry from state-inspected facilities and allow commercial sales from uninspected “custom” slaughter facilities.

Specifically, SFC criticizes the Direct Interstate Retail Exemption for Certain Transactions Act of 2023 (the DIRECT Act), the Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption Act (the PRIME Act), and the New Markets for State-Inspected Meat and Poultry Act of 2023 (New Markets Act). The letter is addressed to House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

The letter calls the three pieces of legislation “efforts that would compromise established food safety standards for consumers in exchange for speculative, thinly supported benefits,” and recommends that Congress explore more meaningful interventions to support smaller meat and poultry processors, such as reforms to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) overtime inspection fees, which disproportionately affect smaller firms. If passed: