No, absolutely not.”Many swine and poultry plants across the U.S. are now increasing rates of processing and inspecting animals — or line speeds. Four weeks later, she announced plans to make faster line speeds permanent for pork and poultry. In 2014, a new program began permitting poultry plants to modernize voluntarily, and an opt-in system for swine plants followed in 2019. At modernized poultry plants, line speed caps have risen from 140 to 175 birds per minute, and their swine counterparts face no line speed limits. For plants with high daily outputs, Lopez, the former FSIS inspector, said that faster lines and shifting federal oversight could lead to food safety risks.