Can Cold Cuts Kill?

By MICHAEL WEISSKOPF

The processed-meat industry is patting itself on the back for getting the Bush Administration to water down a new plan aimed at keeping a deadly bacterium, Listeria monocytogenes, out of deli meats. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman pledged to step up testing after last summer's outbreak of listeriosis--seven deaths, three miscarriages and dozens of hospitalizations--was traced to tainted turkey from a processor near Philadelphia. Veneman came up with a blueprint directing federal inspectors to hunt down Listeria on the equipment, surfaces and drains of every major producer of ready-to-eat meat and poultry. (Though the USDA selectively inspected processed meat for Listeria, it had left testing of plant interiors, where the bacteria can breed, to the companies.) The National Food Processors Association (N.F.P.A.), voice of the $500 billion industry and a major Republican donor, called Veneman's plan "very onerous" and predicted that universal government testing of plants would result in undue recalls and delay meat shipments while test results were pending.

The final directive, issued to little notice on Dec. 6, made the industry a lot happier. The USDA will limit its plant testing to those that make the riskiest products and to plants that do not do their own testing or don't share their results with the USDA. The final version dropped plans to fine companies where Listeria was discovered. The changes outraged consumer advocates, who claim the USDA is compromising safety to satisfy industry. The N.F.P.A. gloated in a Nov. 11 members-only newsletter obtained by TIME that "a number of key [USDA] personnel have bought into much of the industry proposal." It added that the tough federal directive was averted as a result of "industry efforts made at the White House level."

Officials of the N.F.P.A. reached by TIME refused to elaborate on the group's lobbying efforts. The White House, through a spokeswoman, denied it had any role in the final directive. usda Under Secretary Elsa Murano acknowledged consulting both the White House and industry before the final directive was issued but insisted it was "fine-tuned" solely to advance public health. --By Michael Weisskopf