New Guidelines for 'Fatigued' Pigs

US - USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) has set new guidelines for the handling of pigs that are reluctant to move at the packing plant.
calendar icon 17 February 2009
clock icon 2 minute read

USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service has issued guidance to its inspectors on handling 'fatigued' or 'slow' hogs at packing plants, reports Pork Magazine.

Among the guidance suggestions, plants may elect to have a written protocol on handling fatigued or slow hogs. The protocol should explain measures that ensure all pigs are handled humanely and include procedures for tracing fatigued pigs through the process. The protocol should ensure that the requirements are met so that all pigs receive ante-mortem inspection.

It also should address whether slow pigs will be moved as a group to the stunning area after inspection, or if they will be stunned in a pen specified to hold slow or fatigued pigs. The pigs should then moved immediately to the sticking area for post-mortem inspection.

According to National Pork Producers Council and its Packer-Processor Industry Council developed materials to help FSIS understand the science of fatigued pigs and how such pigs currently are handled in plants.

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