The Independent-News, Volume 94, Number 10, Walkerton, St. Joseph County, 1 August 1968 — Page 12

12

— DTE INDEPENDENT-NEWS — AUGUST 1. 1968

All-Out Attack Being Waged On Unfit Meat Employing the latest. most effed ve weapon available the Wholesome Meat Act the Federal government and the States are joining forces to raise the lew! of consumer protection in inspection of meat and meat products. A < apsule summary of progress madi through June 30, 1968 — just over six months after the A< ' became law in December J|no looks like this . . , - Sixteen Stales nad completed ( ai itive agreements with the US I»< pirtment of Agriculture, r najor step toward develop, inn strong inspection programs f meat moving within their b 1 h rs. Mole than 3UO State meat ind < pleted Inspect n tra . _ programs pr vided by VSl)\ Consumer and Maiketim Service. An at 1,000 m< it pints had bun granted Fedeial inspection. Os I 1. 344 ai : boning plants. 271 are previously exempted retail establishments, and IS3 are meat plants that applied for and received Federal inspection so they could ship pi• ducts out of State. Some 265.000 pounds of unfit or misbranded meat products- had be< n detained in marketing channel-. in 56 separate actions. Twenty meat plants had been id> ntified as constituting a health danger, with follow-up action to clean them up or close them down. The Wholesome Meat Act was passed by Congress to take up th* slack in the Nations meat inspection system and to ultimately insure t< tai inspection of the Nation’s c< mmercially packed or processed meat supply. t’nder the Act. each State has Until December 15, 1969 or an additional one-year period if it’s making adequate progress to build a meat inspection system at least equal to the Federal insp. cion program. The Federal program, operated by C & MS, covers the meat sk Id across State Jin* s and in foreign commerce —■ approximately four-fifths of the total U.S. supply. C&MS and cooperating State agric ulture or health agencies are Well on their way to establishing a uniform nationwide standard of wholesomeness f r inspecting all U.S. meat and meat food pi - ducts. As of June 30. 1968, C&MS had completed cooperative agreements with 16 States that applied for Federal assistance in devel ping strong inspection programs to Cover plants that pack or process Someininj's 'J missing— To avoid "loopholes" in your insurac e protection, ccmome your y. erape in one convent program from ’/eno an Muti a! Insurance C npany. Covers your h me, auto, possessons and liability! . , , ^a»es you mone/, tool See me,,. • there's no obligation' your Meridian Mutual agent 'hrHih I. W. Johnson Ins. Morning — Hamlet Phone 867-2831 Afternoons — Koontz Tutka Phone Walkerton 386-2359

meat f<>r sale within State boundaries. Though it doesn’t constitute USDA approval of a State s in--pec ion program, the signing of a cm perative agreement does repi' -ent a major step toward developing a program that meets provisions of the Wolesome Meat Act. Before an agreement can be completed, the State must have a 1 iw that provides for compulsory meat inspection before and after slaughter, as well as re-inspec-tion of carcass parts and sanitation r< quirements. .Survey teams composed of both Fedeial and State officials review pi esent inspection pro-c-duies and meat plants in the St ite to assess the existing in--p< eti n program, to detect deficiencies in it. and to estimate c for building It to the \\ I? !■ - me Meat Act standards. The State, with assistance from C&MS. develops a program imp' a nient plan for correcting deficiencies. \ With an agreement in effect, * the State qualifies for Federal funds covering up to 50 percent of the cost of developing and open ting its program, and also is eligible to receive technical and laboratory assistance from C&MS. The Federal technical assistance includes training of State inspectors. Up to June 30. C&MS had trained 314 state inspectors. Training was accomplished on-the-job in plants; at C&MS regional training centers in Fort Worth, Omaha. L<»s Angeles, and St. Paul; or at a national meat hygiene training center in Chicago.* Besides strengthening state meat inspection programs, the Wholesome Meat Act expands the existing Federal meat inspection program, by bringing under in-, sped ion certain types of meat operations that were previously exempted. Between December 15. 1967. and June 30. 1968,

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C&MS had granted Federal inspection to 1.001 meat establishments. These include: 544 cutting and boning plants, which are brought under Federal inspection if they ship across state lines. 274 retail meat establishments which previously were exempted from inspection for doing hs> than a specified amount of interstate business. 183 slaughtering and processing plants that applied for and were approved for Federal inspection so they would be eligible t<> ship intercalate. Total number of plants under Federal inspection, as of June 30. was 2.907 or an increase of 44 perc< nt over the total on December 15. 1967. Using increased enforcement powers granted by the Wholesome Meal Act. C&’MS in 56 -eparate instances up to the end of June detained 264.889 pounds <>f meat products found in hruketing channels to bo or suspected to be unfit for food, or misbranded. An •emergency provision” in the Act authorizes C&MS to provide Federal inspection at any meat plant whether or not the plant sells only to customers within a state if the plant is found to be a health hazard and if the state doesn't provide proper inspection or doesn't act to clean up or close down the plant. Up to June 30 through Fed-eral-State cooperative procedures —C&MS had designated 20 meat plants in nine states as endangering public health, and initiated actions to see that they were either closed down or that corrective actions were taken. Further Federal aciton was unnecessary in each case because cooperating State officials followed up by closing four of the plants, closing another temporarily until it was cleaned up. and insuring that operates in the remaining 15 were corrected to meet minimum sanitation re-

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quirements. By working cooperatively to implement the Wholesome meat Act, USDA and state agencies are thus escalating the "war" on unfit meat, as sanctioned by Congress to protect the health and welfare of the Nations 200 million consumers. CONTKOLLING BATS Although bats do not attack humans, they can be a dangerous nuisance. Not only are bats often rabid, but when they roost in occupied buildings, their continuous crawling is annoying. Furthermore, bat droppings on the roost produce an objectionable odor which attracts more bats. Bat-proofing, therefore, is essential in any bat conrol program. Bats can enter thrrugh very small openings, including vents, broken windows and openings in and around eaves or cornices. Cover the Larger openings with sheet metal or one-fourth inch mesh hardware doth if you want ventilation. You can plug narrow crack? with oakum, tow or some similar packaging material

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and then seal them with caulk, ing compound. Wait until all the bats have left in the evening I*l or* closing, the openings. You may have to observe for several nights to spot other openings. If openings are there, the bats will find them. Use of oral poisons as a control method is impractical since bats feed mainly on flying insects. Control can be obtained by spraying rafters and other places where bats do enter. Use a mixture of one pound 50 per cent wettable DDT powder per gallon of water. Wet all surfaces thoroughly. This method is slow because it requires that the bats get the poison on their feet and body. As they cleanse themselves, they consume the poison. If you are treating an enclQsed area, put a protective cover over stored material. Be sure to wear gloves when picking up and destroying dead bats, and as d precaution against possible rabies, do not handle live ones. Consult your state and local laws before applying c< ntrols. Obey The Traffic Laws