Is the USDA inspection process shoddy?

This is a crosspost from hello! Food

Perhaps you've heard of the video that was released by the Humane Society from a Chino slaughterhouse. Watching this video makes me truly sad. Now, the USDA is under criticism. No, not for the treatment of the cows (which should be under investigation already) but for allowing mistreated cattle to go through the meat inspection process. Because this video has surfaced, they were forced to shut down that Chino-based slaughterhouse. Now people are wondering just how effective the USDA inspection process is.

This is aside from the fact that I am appalled at the amount of abuse that these cows have been given. But I digress.

From the LA Times article: "Cattle that are unable to walk are banned from use as human food because they show a higher occurrence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as mad cow disease."

There also was a statement from an undercover activist from the Humane Society who said, "It would take two or three of us to get the cow to stand in front of the inspector, on wobbly legs, and he would say 'That's fine.'"

I'm of firm belief that any type of inspection process can easily be corrupted, in the form of bribes or even laziness. It just sounds like the inspector in question in the quote above by the activist did not care about it. If we are going to allow these inspectors to determine if something is safe for us to consume, they must be ever vigilant. Seriously! They cannot be corrupted or they cannot allow certain things to happen.

I too believe in the inspection process, and it's not necessarily the fault of the USDA as much as it is the fault of the inspectors themselves who become lazy or corrupted. But the USDA seriously needs to get down on these people. They need to make a change and tighten things up.

USDA, humane society, slaughterhouse, inspection