Boebert Co-Sponsors "Tainted Slider Protection Act"

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by: Colorado Pols

Rep. Lauren Boebert, pork sliders.

A fresh and never frozen battle is brewing in Congress over the so-called PRIME Act, legislation that would allow some producers to directly sell meat products that have not been inspected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for safety to consumers and restaurants. As Dan Flynn writes for Food Safety News:

Food safety is reason enough to kill the Processing Revival and Interstate Meat Exemption Act, otherwise known as the PRIME Act, according to some of the industry’s most powerful players…

NCBA President Todd Wilkinson says the nation’s largest organization for the cattle industry “is in favor of reducing regulatory burdens, but not at the expense of food safety,” He calls the PRIME Act ” well-intentioned,” but allowing uninspected beef to enter the retail market is dangerous to consumers.

“American consumers rely on rigorous USDA inspection to ensure the safety and quality of their meat and poultry,” said Meat Institute President and CEO Julie Anna Potts. “Allowing the meat to enter commerce without inspection – and without alerting consumers they are buying uninspected meat — jeopardizes food safety and will undermine consumer confidence in all meat products.” [Pols emphasis]

Proponents of the PRIME Act argue that it will give consumers more local choices while giving ranchers new market options for their products. Opponents, who include most of the nation’s large meat producers, counter that the lack of inspection for these meat products will lead to outbreaks of foodborne disease.

There are arguments on both sides of this debate, but Colorado’s far-right Rep. Lauren Boebert’s original sponsorship of the PRIME Act creates its own ghastly message problems for supporters of this legislation. In Boebert’s previous career as a restauranteur in Rifle, as our readers know, a batch of “tainted” pork sliders her business cooked up for a local rodeo in 2017 sickened dozens of spectators with “Boebert’s Revenge,” also known as Clostridium perfringens. And during the early period of COVID-19, Boebert narrowly avoided losing her business license for defying public health orders.

It’s not the first time we’ve said this about Rep. Boebert…but could proponents of the PRIME Act have found a worse spokesperson for this particular issue if they tried?

We’d be hard-pressed to.

10 thoughts on “Boebert Co-Sponsors “Tainted Slider Protection Act””

NOV GOP meltdown says:

May 3, 2023 at 11:34 am

The God given right to sell tainted meat is in the constitution right next to the right to own an AR-15. Stop being communists. Freedumbs!!!

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PKolbenschlag says:

May 3, 2023 at 11:41 am

No Boebert fan, but Big Meat is not exactly a credible perspective IMO.

Here is info from National Sustainable Ag Coalition: Getting Into the Meat of It: A Roundup of Livestock and Poultry Reform and Resilience Bills

https://sustainableagriculture.net/blog/getting-into-the-meat-of-it-a-roundup-of-livestock-and-poultry-reform-and-resilience-bills/ 

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JohnInDenver says:

May 3, 2023 at 11:53 am

I especially liked this part: "without alerting consumers they are buying uninspected meat."

I followed the story of a friend's father dying of a different sort of food poisoning, reading of the investigation to pin down the source, and the legal case for damages for those injured or killed. The eventual settlement involved the grocery store & wholesaler paying minor amounts, an insurance company paying out their policy's maximum, and the ag operators needing to sell EVERYTHING and go out of business in order to get close to the damage award.

So, I'm wondering ….Would insurance be required (no mention, that I see)? What would liability insurance rates for farmers and ranchers be if PRIME passed? Who covers the costs for this FREEDOM?

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Republican 36 says:

May 3, 2023 at 12:28 pm

The RTP Act ("Right to Poison" Act).

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MichaelBowman says:

May 3, 2023 at 12:57 pm

We have a locally owned-operated, USDA-certified meat packing plant in Wray that does a fantastic job. You can walk in and get fresh, local meat any day of the week. USDA has a handful of well-funded programs to expand local meat processing.

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Conserv. Head Banger says:

May 3, 2023 at 1:39 pm

Regarding Boebert……546. End of discussion.

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1. spaceman2021 says:
  
  May 3, 2023 at 5:42 pm
  
  Exactly.
  
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Chickenheed says:

May 3, 2023 at 2:45 pm

There are some organizations where I don't expect quality output. GOP is one of those organizations.

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westslope says:

May 3, 2023 at 6:41 pm

MB is correct. We’ve been buying half a beef every several years from different producers in Mesa, Delta and Montrose counties. Each has excellent USDA-certified meat packing plants, some of which has sold us pork as well.

Pete, I would have read what you posted but the link goes nowhere. I can’t see the plus side to this bill.

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1. PKolbenschlag says:
  
  May 3, 2023 at 8:05 pm
  
  I've read a few different perspectives on this bill. It was origianally sponsored by Rep Pingree who is now ranking on House Ag, but was Chair and usually works closely with small ag producers. I don't really have a position on this particular legislation but in general am supportive of much of what Rep. Pingree has put forward in the ag space. But I understand the medium here, and poisoned pork sliders are funny.
  
  https://pingree.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=3765 
  
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