GLICKMAN REORGANIZES NATIONAL MEAT AND POULTRY COMMITTEE Release No. 0190.97 

					Johna Pierce  (202) 720-4623
						johna.pierce@usda.gov
					Jacque Knight (202) 720-9113
						jacque.knight@usda.gov

                                                                 

GLICKMAN REORGANIZES NATIONAL MEAT AND POULTRY COMMITTEE

     WASHINGTON, June 12, 1997--Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman today
announced the names of 16 persons who will serve on the newly reorganized
and rechartered National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection.

     "Membership on the Meat and Poultry Inspection Advisory Committee has
been broadened to provide greater representation to state and consumer
interests," Glickman said, "and add more balance than in previous years."

     "I expect the newly organized group to serve as a forum for
significant sharing of ideas and insight about how our regulatory system can
best serve both consumers and industry," Glickman stated.  He said the
addition of representatives from state and consumer interests would result
in more substantial contributions to USDA's regulatory policy development.

     In addition to the reorganization of the committee, the Clinton
Administration has taken other important steps to improve the safety of the
U.S. food supply.  Most recently, President Clinton established a
comprehensive food safety strategy that emphasizes the prevention of
foodborne illness and sets up a national early warning system to quickly
detect and respond to outbreaks of foodborne illness.

     In December 1995, the Administration improved seafood requirements by
incorporating new science-based approaches to prevent food contamination. 
In July 1996, regulations were put into place that radically improve the
90-year-old meat and poultry inspection system and establish science-based
standards that plants must meet.  The President also signed legislation to
strengthen the Safe Drinking Water Act in July 1996 and, in August, signed
into law the Food Quality Protection Act, which streamlines the regulation
of pesticides and emphasizes public health protection for children.

     Membership on the previous advisory committee was limited to 15
members who met only once or twice a year. The reorganized committee plans
to meet more frequently, if the budget allows.  Members are:

     Dr. Deloran M. Allen, Excel Corporation; Dr. William L. Brown, ABC
Research Corporation; Terry Burkhardt, Wisconsin Bureau of Meat Safety and
Inspection; 

     Caroline Smith-DeWaal, Center for Science in the Public Interest;
Nancy Donley, Safe Tables Our Priority; Carol Tucker Foreman, Safe Food
Coalition;


     Michael J. Gregory, Hudson Foods Inc.; Dr. Cheryl Hall, Foster Farms,
Inc.; Dr. Margaret Hardin, National Pork Producers;

     Alan Janzen, Circle Five Feedyards, Inc.; Dr. Daniel E. LaFontaine,
South Carolina Meat-Poultry Inspection Department; Dr. Dale Morse, New York
Office of Public Health;

     Rosemary Mucklow, National Meat Association; William Rosser, Texas
Department of Public Health; J. Myron Stoltzfus, Stoltzfus Meats; and Dr.
David M. Theno, Jr., Foodmaker Inc.

     Congress established the National Advisory Committee on Meat and
Poultry Inspection in 1971 under authority of the federal meat and poultry
acts.  Both laws require the Secretary of Agriculture to consult with an
advisory committee before issuing product standards and labeling changes or
on matters affecting federal and state inspection program activities.

                                
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