Reports on a court action requiring the USDA to release information identifying persons with whom officials met before they loosened rules on testing meat for deadly bacteria. "The agency did an about-face on the Listeria regulations, and the Consumer Federation of America suspected the change was due to ex parte communications with industry representatives from the meat and poultry industries, CFA lawyer Jillian M. Cutler told the RCFP." (Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press)