Many consumers already distrust food imports from China, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture nonetheless announced recently (and “quietly,” according to NPR) that it would exempt four Chinese companies altogether from USDA inspections of their processed chicken exports. The changes are part of the department’s money-saving streamlining that also cuts back domestic regulation — proposals that have already drawn criticism from the Government Accountability Office because they would replace many onsite USDA inspectors with employees of the food-processing plants themselves.
Follow FOLIO!