in iraq. hundreds have crossed the border. as college football kicks off, we will tell you who stands to win, who stands to lose and who stands to make more money. all of that straight ahead at 6:00 eastern. i am lisa flech ter. the government agent charged with keeping your food safe is pulling more than 700 inspectors from america's poultry plants and handing over most responsibilities fto industry. what does this mean to food safety? do you know what happens to a chicken before it gets to your plate. why the slaughter act doesn't pertain to 8 and a half million animals. >>. >> producers of a document called mississippi chicken" exposed the human suffering they

say they found on factory farms. >> my digital producer and co-ho co-host, twitter lit up. >> it is good and bad. >> i am wondering about the topics we choose? >> i do the research and think maybe lisa fletcher is right, i need to go vegetarian and our online community, like you said, proved this. the pros and cons over these new inspections. ronald says, pro: how about you change one's meat source of courthouse. don't go to poultry. cons, corporate agreed will lower quality and safety. christian: the new regulations mean less regulation which means increased food-borne illness and no quality standards. the margaret will regulate

itself while the consumers will subcoumb. everything tastes like chicken. it does. >> for the first time in nearly 60 years, the usda is revamping the way factories inspect the chicken you eat. the plan is to get rid of 770 federal inspectors and shift much of the responsibility to industry employees. the usda says plants will be required to conduct their own tests for dangerous bacteria like salmonella. the government beliefs it will lead to 5,000 fewer food-borne illnesses. it's a move industry favors. >> it's a much preferable system to that we have right now. all of the data states that's true. it's good for usda. it's good for the industry. it's good for consumers. >> but not everyone agrees. currently chickens zip through factory lines at the rate of 140 per minute giving inspectors one

second to view every 2.3 carcasses. high speeds raise questions about human slaughter. they say they are sometimes not rendered sense less before having their necks sliced and dropped into boiling vats. will the newer rules make you feel better and safer about the food you are eating? giving industry more power to self reth late a good idea? for more, paul shapiro, the vice president of paul animal protection with the united states and doctor william claims, the former usda veterinarian for the agency's food and safety service. he con suments for poultry companies. >> joining us from birmingham, her career spanned 44 years and included inspecting poultry on the factory line. thank you for being here. dr. james, the new usda inspection rules remove under 800 inspectors from the process. how is that a good thing? >> since 1957, we have conducted

inspections in essentially the same way. this new inspection system focuses inspection tasks on those that are principally related to food safety we are removing inspectors from the line whose principal duties are be forcing quality control measures that plants are better suited and more responsible to perform sand enforcing operational sanitation, taking bacterial samples at the end of the line and evaluating the process control measures at critical control points at the point they are implementing. this focuses more on food safety/public health issues than current systems. >> phyllis, you worked in the

industry for 44 years. do you agree with dr. james? and, too, it sounds like we are privatizing the inspection industry. do you agree? >> i disagree with dr. james. i was in the first temp program, the very first day of the pilot program. >> that's the biggest disaster that's ever hit the united states. i degree with sis putting out this new program because in this new program they first said that the companies would know how to -- have to test for salmonella. now, they are going to leave it up to the companies to test for something even less. >> paul, you have been given an opportunity to self-regulate in the past. how has that worked out? >> often when we give the fox the opportunity to guard the chicken house or chicken slaughter house, things don't work out that well. consumer reports, expose found

virtually all, 97% that they tested in the united states were contaminated with transmitted pa pathogens under the current system. think about what it will be like with 800 fewer inspectors and giving that duty over to the pol ri companies, themselves? >> lisa, the inspectors cannot see the bacteria that mr mr. schapiro refers to. second of all, there were a number of pilot plants that i worked in before ms. mckevily had the opportunity to work in them it's imports to recognize that what we are all about is inspecting as opposed to the lumps, bumps and bruises that may occur and that plants are

certainly capable of removing. it's imports to realize there are only two conditions on line we spent for the. >> cathy agrees with paul. how can cutting the number of inspectors possibly improve public health or animal welfare? yet, that is the claim. eric says, sounds like more illnesses from contaminated meat are coming. less than half a second is bad enough already. phyllis, he is referring to what lisa was mentioning, right now, 140 chickens being inspected per minute. you were an inspector. let's talk about this rate. how will decreasing the rate or increasing the speed actually affect the safety and health of the chickens? tu will give the inspector more time to make sure februarial material is not inside the chicken? >> not line speed. line speeds can go quickly if equipment and personnel are operating optimally.

when they are not, they go more slowly. >> the usda as part of this rule opted not to increase the line speed. paul, you said it was 175 birds a minute. what the usda has said and have been since 2010 publically -- was that they are going to use more chemicals to kill pathogens on the chicken meat. so, it's a chlorine bath or another kind of chemical. what are your concerns in terms of consumer health? >> right now, it's typical in the u.s. poli poultry to bathe in a chlorine wash. this is a band-aid on the problem. in fact, it arms u.s. exports to places like russia and the european union who don't want to take in those chlorine birds but at the same time, let's keep in mind why these birds have so much feces on them in the first place. chickens are raised by the tens of thousands inside of these maven warehouses where they have been genetically bread to grow so obese, so fast thof them hav

difficulty taking more than a few pitiful steps by the end of their 6 week lives before they collapse in their own feces. they arrive in the slaughter plant with feces on them, get put through the slaughter system that is so inhumane that you have lots of birds, as you pointed out, even going into scalding tanks of hot water where they are drowning to death and in that tank of water, all of those feces mixed with all of the other birds, which is why some usda inspectors call it a fecal soup inside of the slaughter plants and rather than keeping up the industry's act, the slaughter industry's solution is just douse them with chlorine. >> that's practiced rhetoric but virtually nothing that we just heard is actually so. way birds are raised today provides a much cleaner and b better bird than was the case which 1957 when we began inspecting birds. >> what about the increased use

of anti-microbial use, chemical baths on these chickens, dr. james. >> those anti-microbial treatments are a result of things that prove that they work. they come to slaughter with bacteria on them. all animals, no matter under what conditions they are raised have bacteria on them just like every living being has bacteria associated with them on the outside. and the intest natural tract. >> i hear angela merkel say there is no way she is going to allow chickens bathed in chlorine come to germany. t the eu doesn't allow it. why is the european union so concerned about the chem caddell that we handle almost cavalier lee? >> the european union is not concerned about the chemicals that are being used, which are f.d.a.-approved, tested in order to be safe. nothing is being used that poses any risk to connell assumers. let's get that straight.

>> paul is that correct true? >> that is true. he can consult with f.d.a. on that. >> pardon me. they came to my house and made a documentary and they are concerned. the germans were at my house. >> we probably should point out that and do correct me if i am wrong, dr. james. i don't believe that i am, that these government agencies that are charged with protecting our health are not doing any independent research to find out whether or not these chemicals are safe for human consumption and whether or not they are bad for these factory workers. they are instead relying on data that is provided to them from the industry. is that correct? >> what they are relying on is data to confirm what f.d.a. has done its own testing for because f.d.a. does follow-up on chem k58s and vaccines and other medicines that are improved to ensure that it's long-term use over larger possession continues

to show that it is safe. >> all right. still ahead, it is considered one. most dang ruz jobs in the u.s., working in a slaughter plant. some workers blame the chemicals for which they bathe the mete for a host of severe problems. the film makers behind "mississippi chicken," the shocking discover they made after talking to low-wage workers inside poultry plants. ♪

>> i stand sglufrnling i was standing there in paging pain. and i was really, really hurt. body had shut down. i was standing there in tears hurting until somebody came to carry me off of that line to take me to the nurse's station. >> welcome back. that was a former poultry plant

worker. hers is a low-wage job. i want to point out, we reached out to the largest poultry leaders and their lobbying associations to come on the show. the national chicken association declined saying: the nationaltie federation said we are addressing the modernized inspection. it will be 90 days before the government agency writes the regulations that will guide how the process goes forward. we also reached out to the california poultry federation, tyson, pilgrim's pride but did not receive responses from any of them. joining us now is anita grabowski and john tiex. welcome to both of you. so, you have talked to a lot of mrament workers, experts in the field. you have footage from an employee who gave you video from inside the plant. what were some of your biggest findings? >> yeah, i have worked as a

worker rights advocates over six years with half a dozen states in addition to working on the film with john. we found another complaint people had, henstratinw women, harassment and denial for pay for all hours worked. the most common complaint we found were workplace injuries. the line speed was the primary issue instigating ing most of those injuries. >> phyllis, talk a little bit about what your experience was in terms of working in the plant. what did you see? were there cases where people had et health issues? >> yes, ma'am, myself am coughing. i have had a hacking could have since those chemicals were induced into the plant. i have a fellow inspector who

retired. she lives on oxygen and pills because of the parasitic acid. it's highly allergic to it. we have another inspector that had to retire because of tsp. the migrant workers will work and their arms are swollen, knots on them. they are afraid to go to their supervisor bays of retaliation. this new programs talks about turning the inspection over to the company employees. most companies are hiring immigrant workers. these immigrant workers, most of them that i have been associated with does not speak english. they only do what their supervisor tells them to do. so, if they say pass a food

safety issue product, they pass it. i have seen numerous accidents because of the line speeds. over the years -- >> phyllis, one of our viewers agrees: shine pokaras says i have zero confidence in my chicken. we have frank enemychicken. in other countries, chicken tastes different. we were talking about this earlier. the chemicals that we bathe our chickens in. you heard phyllis. what does the research show in your opinion. how are these chemicals, this chlorine, actually affecting the workers, inspectors like phyllis? >> i think it's useful to see

what the bureau of labor statisticsics says about these things. 20 years ago, the number of injured in per 100 per year was pretty high, about 24, 25. over the past years as line speeds increased, they are down to about five injuries per 100, which is exactly the same as it is for all other food industries combined whether we are talking about bottled water and soda, wine and cheese, peanut butter. the poultry industry safety record is as good as any other food producing industry in the u.s. >> anita and/or john, what did you discover while researching your documentary? are these sorts of statistics kept on the people that are hurt or ill? >> the statistics are

misleading and what we see again and again, we have the stories of workers, daniel slipped and fell and hurt his back and sent back to work by the local town doctor with pain medications so the plant wouldn't have to report a loss-time injury. he complained again about sic? scomploofrning strong ter pain medication and again, back to work in extreme pain for his 8-hour shift. he would not report a loss work time injury and ultimately, four months later, we fought to win the right for him to see a specialist and ask for an mri. it turned out he had three fractures to his vertebrae. he had irreparable injury to hez nerves and vertebra. 10 years later, he is in chronic pain. >> anecdotal information does not establish patterns. we need to go by the data available to us. plus, under the new system,

closer monitoring of plant worker injury and illnesses will have to be required. under 15 years of pilot programming, there has been no increase in injuries among usda inspectors working under these conditions. >> paul, in fairness, the usda said it's not its responsibility to be concerned with worker issues. it's not. >> that's not their job, consumer health. if it's not, whose is it to make sure they are working in safe, decent conditions? >> well, let's keep in mind that right now of chickens slaughtered while they are conscious. >> means when workers pick up live chickens, they are dealing with birds fighting for their lives. >> that's a problem in and of itself before the chickens -- for the chickens and workers. the usda admits there is a more humane, controlled atmosphere stunning which the usda concedes is more humane than the current method because it's not only

bert for the birds but by the time humans start handling these birds, they are already unconscious or dead. so the fact is that chickens are excluded by usda from the very basic protection of the federal humane methods of slaughter act. >> paul, you know that's not true because -- >> if these animals were pigs or cattle -- >> they are not covered by the humane meltdz of slaughter act. >> that's the point. they are not. so, if chicken slaurter plants. >> the usda cannot enforce laws for which congress has not passed. >> congress has authorized usda to add any animal speis easy, they could include hens and turkeys if they wanted to. >> that's not true. >> they won't because if cattle and pigs were slaughtered in the way chickens and turkeys are, usda would shut these plants down. it's time for the chicken industry to move to the system of slaughter that usda, itself, is more humane, controlled atmosphere stunning, which would be better for both birds and the workers. >> thirty seconds left?

>> debate on facebook. andrew says this will allow business to grow instead of federal agencies getting in the way. it's a step in the right direction. a response from randy: andrew, it allows these companies to further violate and skirt the law and health. >> all right. now, do you remember hearing how half a million residents in one of ohio's largest city were told not to drink or use the water? we haven't forgotten this story even though it has left the head lines. run-off from large farms feeding toxic algae. not just lake eerie in trouble. why communicate at this across the country face similar issues and what, if anything, is being done. if anything is being done. vé

. >> women bonnie hari, here to investigate what's in your food. i am in the stream. >> welcome back. there is a water crisis in toledo ohio that stem s from

toxic and maneuver on large farms feeds the algae that releases toxin. it's not limited to residents who live near the lake. joining us from columbus ohio to talk about this is jen miller, the director of the ohio sierra club. jen, the federal clean water act brought it back to being a pretty safe body of water. it sounds like you are heading back to the lake erie of old. >> we have toxic algae dead zones, massive areas that are killing out all of the fish, all of the national has been at that point in times of the water and this toxic algae contains a micro cystin. >> i am looking at a picture after dog along a contaminated lakeside. what happens if the dog drinks

that water? >> the dog will get very sick, and, also, if the owner gives that dog a bath, the owner could get very sick. >> and what is being done about this? >> i know a lot of people are concerned, 400,000 in toledo who went without water. >> right. so this should be a wake-up call of scientists and environmentalists. they have been warning about this for many, many years. the algae is not expected to be at its height until september of this year. we could see another issue. were likely see it again. >> jen, lisa asks our community:

what's the solution tots lake erie toxic algae problem. we have responses. chicago girl says agri busy, regulate fertilizer and cover the crops and eric says more regulations for cleaning chemicals, what they are fed and for the living conditions la is the solution. >> there is no doubt we need to regulate how much man you're these businesses can put on their fields. >> that's the direct group most of this is coming from, putting vast amounts of manure, untried, human waste gets treated before it's put back into the water ways. animal waste is not treated. they can put almost unlimited amounts out there. the ohio legislature tried to regulate animal waste as a pollutant this past year and that portion got stripped out of the bill out of the lobbying influence of the meat and other agribusiness industries. the biggest cause of the toxic

algae bloom is from agri busy. we should regulate fertilizer and think about how much waste should we be producing. in other words, how many farm animals should we have? americans eat more meet on a per capita basis than any other nation on the face of the planet and we concentrate these animals into tiny spaces so you have huge numbers of animals in small spaces where the land can't accommodate all of the maneuver, leaving small portions of land to take in all of this maneuver. so should we be eating less meat? >> a real question that bets posed by this toxic algae bloom. >> we are unfortunately out of time. thank our guests, paul shapiro, william james, an e a graboski and jen miller. for more, check us out online. until then, we will see you there.

this is "al jazeera america." a look at today's top stories: israeli airstrikes bring down a 12-story apartment building in gaza. dozens are killed in cash bombs believed to be retaliation for gruesome mosque attacks. thousand rally calling for justice for eric garner who died after a