
Issue No 40		19 November 1999

Health

The Food Police

By Margaret Gillespie

Three times a day you take your life in your hands. How? When you sit down to eat a meal.

In order to protect your health and in some cases, you or your family's lives, you need to make sure that 'food safety cops' are on the beat and able to do their job on your behalf.

That's the simple, but effective message from US Whistleblower advocate, Tom Devine, who has just completed a visit to Australia to report on the public health risks associated with changes to Australia's meat export industry. The changes include the removal of most government meat inspectors, and their replacement with company inspectors. It's an industry that's worth an estimated $3.6 billion dollars, so any concerns from powerful American consumer groups needs to be taken seriously.

Tom Devine, is the legal director of the, 'Government Accountability Project', a US non profit legal advocacy firm, which deals exclusively with whistleblowing issues. GAP works with unions and interested consumer groups to defend whistleblowers in public and private employment to expose abuses of public trust. GAP's work includes exposing chemical companies for unlawful dumping of hazardous waste, violations of safety codes at nuclear plants, and unhealthy practices in meat and poultry processing plants. On his return to Washington, consumer organisations, victims of food poisoning groups, interested journalists, and US congress members, will be alerted to evidence gathered on his Australian trip which revealed, according to Tom, "symptoms of an unnecessary disaster that's about to happen."

During his visit to Australia, which was partly funded by the Community and Public Sector Union, Tom Devine, gathered evidence in the company regulated domestic sector from Australian whistleblowers, many of whom are ex-government meat inspectors and retired members of the CPSU.

Their reports, according to Tom, include instances where up to 75 percent of carcases on some production lines being contaminated with faeces and bile, workers walking through 'puddles of bloody faecal soup' tracking over production lines where meat was being dressed for consumption. Blocked drains resulting from pools of faeces, blood and other filth that was too caked to hose away. Workplaces where the equipment was no longer wiped down daily resulting in build ups of fat and spoiled and rotting meat, blood, grease and other contaminants. Greenish black moss growing on the walls when companies stopped cleaning regularly.

"The bottom line for me is that the threat to public health is much more severe than I'd anticipated after coming over from the States," Tom claims. "When I came I was irritated that a government spokesperson wasn't playing it straight with American consumers. I have spoken to over a dozen whistleblowers here during the trip from a variety of backgrounds, but the most significant were former government inspectors who went to work for companies under the domestic self inspection programs and their experiences were far worse than anything expected before arriving."

"It's not surprising after hearing these whistleblowers stories to see that the salmonella rate is going up domestically in Australia."

The evidence collected by Tom Devine on what has happened at domestic abbattoirs together with the flaws in the proposed trial of minimal government inspected beef to the States he believes combine to pose an indefensible risk to US consumers.

To date no Australian export licensed abattoir has gone onto the new deregulated system. In the meantime the Community and Public Sector Union intends to continue its campaign to alert key industry members of the risks associated with the government's 'honesty' system for export meat inspection.

The Government Accountability Project website address is: http://www.whistleblower.org

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  Issue 40 contents

Interview: No Quick Fix
Online pioneer Marc Belanger explains why the Internet, on its own, will not save the union movement.

Unions: Organising With A Mission
Entries are beginning to trickle in for the Labor Council Organiser of the Year. With just two weeks to deadline, we look at the TWU's nominee.

History: Rhyme and Reason
Poems written by workers provide us with an insight into their experiences and also how they felt about their work and working conditions.

Health: The Food Police
Three times a day you take your life in your hands. How? When you sit down to eat a meal.

Politics: East Timor: Defeat or Victory for the Left?
John Passant's "Requiem for the Left" advances some rather extravagant charges regarding the left and East Timor.

International: Kiwi Unions Rebuild from Ground Up
After fifteen years as a right wing laboratory New Zealand is about to change tack. New NZCTU chief Paul Goulter outlines the challenge ahead.

Satire: Australian Democrats Revealed as Student Hoax
The Chaser has obtained an exclusive background report on the extraordinary story which reveals how and why Cheryl Kernot defected from the Democrats.

Review: The Best of the Best
Once again Channel Nine has out done itself with it�s new Ray Martin program �Simply the Best�.

Labour Review: What's New at the Information Centre
View the latest issue of Labour review, our resource for officials and students.

Deface a Face: 25,000 Teachers Can�t Be Wrong!
Angry teachers yesterday voted overwhelmingly for Education minister John Aquilina to take the mantle of this week�s face to deface.

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