US poultry and pork processing plants will be free to operate more quickly, after the Trump administration acted to increase current limits.
US secretary of agriculture Brooke Rollins announced the move ‘to reduce burdens on the US pork and poultry industries, allowing for greater efficiency while maintaining food safety standards’.
The directive instructs the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to eliminate ‘outdated administrative requirements that have slowed production and added unnecessary costs for American producers’, she said.
Under the new policy, FSIS will extend waivers allowing pork and poultry facilities to maintain higher line speeds, ensuring they can meet demand without excessive government interference
Additionally, FSIS will no longer require plants to submit redundant worker safety data, as extensive research has confirmed no direct link between processing speeds and workplace injuries. These reforms will strengthen US food production, reduce costs for producers, and support a more resilient supply chain, Ms Rollins said.
“America leads the world in pork and poultry production, and we are committed to ensuring our producers remain competitive on a global scale without being held back by unnecessary bureaucracy,” she added. “Under President Trump’s leadership, we are cutting unnecessary red tape, empowering businesses to operate more efficiently, and strengthening American agriculture –all while upholding the highest food safety standards.”
Chicken plants with waivers will be able to process up to 175 birds per minute, compared to a previous limit of 140 birds, Reuters reports.
Safety concerns
The National Pork Producers Council said making the higher speeds permanent would increase stability for pork producers.
However, the move has raised concerns about worker health and food safety, Reuters reports. USDA’s announcement cited a lack of direct links between processing speeds and workplace injuries, but research shows that meatpacking workers face a greater risk of serious harm, it added.
Worker unions and other advocacy groups argue that greater speeds threaten food safety and pose a higher risk of stress injuries and accidents for workers.
“Increased line speeds will hurt workers – it’s not a maybe, it’s a definite,” said Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which represents 15,000 poultry workers.
In his first term, President Donald Trump in 2019 issued a rule that allowed pork plants to run processing lines as quickly as they wanted. A federal judge blocked the rule in 2021 after a challenge from worker unions. The Biden administration in 2023 allowed six pork plants to operate faster in a trial program for which USDA collected data on worker injuries.