USDA, Burger King to Meet on Slaughter Methods

June 29, 2001

Burger King Corporation has asked USDA to fully enforce the Humane Slaughter Act. The petition comes on the heels of another demand last week from animal rights and labor groups to the same effect. The American Meat Institute says within hours of the submission, USDA agreed to meet with company officials July 10 to discuss the issue.

Burger King also announced that it will require its suppliers to implement AMI's "Good Management Practices for Animal Handling and Stunning," published in 1997. The cornerstone of the GMPs is a self-audit program that uses objective criteria to assess animal handling and stunning. AMI said such a requirement will pose little challenge to the industry since a spring 2001 survey of AMI members showed 92% of respondents are conducting self-audits in conjunction with the GMPs already.

AMI commended Burger King for adopting the 1997 guidelines but said it believes that the petition is unnecessary because the HSA is enforced. In fact, in January, FSIS Deputy Administrator Mark Mina issued a memo to field offices reminding them of their obligations to enforce humane slaughter rules and noting that HACCP implementation in 1998 did not alter these responsibilities in any way. AMI did note that industry and government can benefit from ongoing education about animal handling and stunning and welcomed participation in its 2002 Animal Handling and Stunning Workshop, February 21-22, 2002, in Kansas City.

To view AMI's statement, go to: http://www.meatami.com/Template.cfm?Section=Current&NavMenuID=274&template=PressReleaseDisplay.cfm&PressReleaseID=542. To view Burger King's statement, go to: http://www.burgerking.com/company/press_releases/06_28_01.htm.

The American Humane Association (AHA) welcomed Burger King's announcement of improved animal handling guidelines for its suppliers. AHA's President Timothy O'Brien said Burger King's new guidelines "incorporate some of American Humane's strict farm animal welfare standards under which the ‘free farmed label' is awarded. This is an important step forward for farm animals."