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Microcap & Penny Stocks : THE OZONE COMPANY! (OZON) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Brenda L. Greer who wrote (2351)	1/16/1998 7:40:00 PM
From: Starduster	Respond to of 4356

Brenda You get another point. Great news. And that's a man you can believe. Sandie

To: Brenda L. Greer who wrote (2351)	1/18/1998 1:39:00 PM
From: Aishwarya	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 4356

WILL MORE BAD RAP ON THE FOOD PROCESSORS MAKE THEM SAFER/PRODUCE A GOOD PRODUCT ? ***STRICT RULES COMING SOON* Paper: Citations Don't Close Plants Saturday, January 17, 1998; 4:21 p.m. EST WASHINGTON (AP) -- Meat and poultry plants almost always were allowed to continue operating even after federal inspectors issued multiple citations for serious violations of sanitation and contamination rules, a published report says. Cox Newspapers, in a story for Sunday's editions, said a computer database of 1996 Agriculture Department inspection records, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, showed 138,593 ''critical'' citations. Those are infractions considered certain to sicken consumers if the food were to have been distributed. While most of the nation's 6,400 processing plants had only a handful of violations, 299 had 100 or more critical citations, and seven plants topped 1,000 or more, the records showed. The precise nature of the violations was not detailed, but they can include such infractions as bacterial contamination and sale of carcasses that were dropped on the floor. A Tyson Foods Inc. plant in Waldron, Ark., that the Agriculture Department shut down last week was permitted to continue operating through 1996 despite 1,753 critical violations, the nation's worst record. In 1997, the Waldron plant had 4,100 violations, but not all were critical, department officials said. There was no estimate of how often unsafe products from these plants reach consumers. A top department official said Friday the citations are aimed at preventing that from happening by getting rid of any bad product and stopping individual production lines until problems are fixed. ''This is an indication that the inspectors were doing their jobs,'' said Thomas J. Billy, administrator of the Food Safety and Inspection Service. In addition, rules in effect in 1996 essentially prevented the department from shutting down a plant unless evidence of a crime was found, Billy said. Under new rules, the number of plant closures rose from six in 1996 to 20 last year. He added that the repeated violations demonstrate a need for the new meat and poultry inspection system taking effect Jan. 26 for the largest plants. It will be phased in for smaller processors through 2000. Under the new regime, plants identify points where contamination is most likely and must keep detailed records of chronic production problems for inspectors to examine. ''If we document a pattern of failures in your system, that now forms the basis for withdrawal of inspection,'' Billy said. Some critics say plants' operating despite repeated violations in the past raises misgivings about the industry's commitment to safety under the new system. ''If the plants aren't cleaning up these basic problems, why should we expect them to act any faster if the messenger is a plant employee rather than a government inspector who theoretically has the power to shut them down?'' said Caroline Smith DeWaal, food safety director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. **This is the type of interest that will eventually force one and all to use all available alternatives to more safer and cleaner food products ***** Regards Sri.