In April of this year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced a final rule that broadened the market for state-inspected meat processing plants. In participating states, state-inspected establishments selected to take part in this program can use state inspectors to get the coveted USDA mark of inspection that is needed in order to move meat across state lines.
Shift your mindset to the world of horse processing and, while the processing itself isn’t illegal, Congress has repeatedly left unfunded the federal inspection needed to market the meat.
Combine these two thoughts and there is now a way that horse processing can go on, the meat can be marketed across state lines and federal inspection dollars are not needed.
Sue Wallis, President of the United Organizations of the Horse, tells us that the FSIS rule opened up doors for horse processing.Sue says that the main market for horse meat in recent decades has been the export market. However, she says that there is a very real and likely possibility for a domestic market as well. The list of who could make up that market includes ethnic groups living in America from Tonga, Mexico, China and Mongolia.
Once the state meat inspection program in Wyoming gets up to snuff with what is required of them to become certified under the FSIS rules and the plants get built, Sue says that there will be nothing stopping them from processing horse meat and exporting that product.
© Northern Ag Network 2011
Haylie Shipp
