美国国家公共电台 NPR USDA Offers Pork Companies A New Inspection Plan, Despite Opposition

 

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The way the federal government oversees¹ pork production is changing. Rules announced today paved the way for fewer federal inspectors³ in hog⁴ slaughterhouses and more company employees doing those inspections⁶. The U.S. Department of Agriculture calls this modernization⁷. As NPR's Dan Charles reports, critics see it differently - as privatization.

DAN CHARLES, BYLINE⁸: A big pork processing plant is like an assembly line in reverse. A whole pig gets cut up into parts, and at various points along this disassembly line, by law, there have to be inspectors from the federal government watching for any sign of contamination or disease. They reject live animals that seem sick or sections of carcass that don't look right. Casey Gallimore's been in some of these plants. She's director of regulatory and scientific affairs at the North American Meat Institute, which represents meat companies. A really big plant has seven inspectors on the line, she says.

CASEY GALLIMORE: You're going to have three inspectors that are looking at the heads, three inspectors that are looking at what we call the viscera, which is all the internal organs, and then you'll have one inspector² that's looking at the carcass itself.

CHARLES: But now the USDA is shaking up that system. Under a new rule that's been in the works for 20 years but finalized⁹ today, pork companies have a new option. They can hire their own people to help out. These company employees would be at each inspection⁵ station. They'd weed out the problematic pork before the USDA inspector gives it a final OK. And there will be fewer USDA inspectors in the plant because they won't have as much to do. Also under this new system, pork companies will be allowed to run their processing plants faster. Gallimore says the industry likes the idea.

GALLIMORE: It's always great to have option.

CHARLES: She says this will let plants try some new things, maybe operate more efficiently¹⁰. She says it won't affect food safety because USDA inspectors still will look at every piece of pork that goes into the food supply.

GALLIMORE: There's still three online inspectors that are there all of the time. And there's going to be two offline inspectors walking around all of the time.

CHARLES: Five big pork plants have been experimenting with this system for the past 20 years. But there's been a lot of opposition¹¹ to expanding it, from some USDA food safety inspectors, also from food safety activists¹² - for instance, Patty Lovera, a food industry critic with the nonprofit group Food & Water Watch.

PATTY LOVERA: We call it privatizing inspection.

CHARLES: Lovera says you can't expect company employees to be as aggressive as independent government employees when it comes to spotting problems because problems cost money.

LOVERA: And to ask company employees to be under that pressure of pulling product out and costing their employer money is a lot to ask. And we think consumers are better served when we have an independent government employee making that call.

CHARLES: And even though there still will be USDA inspectors in every plant, Lovera says there will be fewer of them, maybe 40% fewer, trying to monitor carcasses that will be moving faster.

LOVERA: So that just ups the pressure on that last USDA inspector kind of to be the last line of defense¹³ as opposed to having them doing things along the way.

CHARLES: Lovera says increasing the line speed also can make it more dangerous for workers in these plants. Gallimore, for her part, says companies have every incentive¹⁴ to put out safe products and also protect their workers. Injuries in meat plants, she says, are currently at an all-time low. The new rules take effect in two months. Plants will have several months to decide whether they'll adopt the new inspection system or stay with what they know.

Dan Charles, NPR News.

1 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

2 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

3 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 hog   

n.猪；馋嘴贪吃的人；vt.把…占为己有，独占

参考例句：

• He is greedy like a hog.他像猪一样贪婪。
• Drivers who hog the road leave no room for other cars.那些占着路面的驾驶员一点余地都不留给其他车辆。

5 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

6 inspections   

n.检查( inspection的名词复数 )；检验；视察；检阅

参考例句：

• Regular inspections are carried out at the prison. 经常有人来视察这座监狱。
• Government inspections ensure a high degree of uniformity in the standard of service. 政府检查确保了在服务标准方面的高度一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 modernization   

n.现代化，现代化的事物

参考例句：

• This will help us achieve modernization.这有助于我们实现现代化。
• The Chinese people are sure to realize the modernization of their country.中国人民必将实现国家现代化。

8 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

9 finalized   

vt.完成（finalize的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The draft of this article has been finalized [done]. 这篇文章已经定稿。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The draft was revised several times before it was finalized. 稿子几经删改才定下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

11 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

12 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

14 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。