Elected officials, chefs and U.S. catfish farmers said at a public hearing recently that they support new USDA requirements for the inspection and regulation of all domestic and imported catfish sold in America
“We are sick and tired of taking the risk on food safety for products that come from other countries and don’t meet our standards,” Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture Lester Spell said at the Capps Center, in Stoneville Miss.
“In case Washington hasn’t really heard the American public, we want Washington to stop sacrificing the safety of the American consumer in order to seek favor with any trading partner.”
Spell delivered his comments at the second of two public hearings conducted by the USDA this week to determine how the agency’s Food Safety and Inspection Service should implement a new rule mandated by Congress to improve the inspection and regulation of catfish. USDA officials are debating whether to include all catfish, or only a single family of catfish.
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