December 13, 2001 — WASHINGTON — The U.S. Agriculture Department can no longer close meat-processing plants that do not comply with salmonella food safety standard following a recent federal appeals-court ruling.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans agreed with a District Court decision, which blocked the USDA from closing a Texas beef company that repeatedly failed tests for salmonella in 1999. The case involved Supreme Beef Processors of Dallas, which became the first company to be shut down as a result of the standards.

The limits, implemented in 1996, set standards on how often meat or poultry can test positive for the bacteria. While the USDA argued the tests can help determine how clean a given plant is, the meat industry claims the tests have little scientific basis.

?This decision will serve food safety by focusing USDA on regulatory activities that are relevant to sanitation, as the law requires,? said NMA Executive Director Rosemary Mucklow. ?The salmonella standard was both arbitrarily enforced and unscientific. It really made no sense at all.?

The USDA is reviewing the decision, according to published reports.