Sanitation Guidance for Beef Grinders- January 12, 2012
The United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service recently issued a guidance document: Sanitation Guidance for Beef Grinders. The document is available at: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/PDF/Sanitation_Guidance_Beef_Grinders.pdf
For more information, please contact Barbara Masters
FSIS Notice 04-12: Chicken Parts Baseline- January 09, 2012
Today, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) issued Notice 04-12: "Nationwide Raw Chicken Parts Microbiological Baseline Data Collection Program." The Notice is available on the agency's web site at: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/rdad/FSISNotices/04-12.pdf
This Notice provides instructions to inspection program personnel (IPP) on collecting,documenting, and submitting samples as part of an FSIS national baseline for chicken parts. The IPP are not to implement the Notice until January 23, 2012.
For more information, please contact Jolyda Swaim
FSIS Notice 80-11: Collecting Supplier Information on E. coli O157:H7 Samples- December 29, 2011
Today, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) issued Notice 80-11: "Collecting Supplier Information at the Time of Sample Collection for E. coli O157:H7 in Raw Ground Beef Products and Bench Trim." The Notice is available on the agency's web site at: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/rdad/FSISNotices/80-11.pdf
This Notice reissues the instructions contained in Notice 58-10 dealing with collecting supplier information when drawing samples for E. coli O157:H7 analysis. In lieu of the instructions in Directive 10,010.1, FSIS inspection program personnel (IPP) are to record information on the raw material suppliers at the time the sample is taken. This applies to samples taken under FSIS Sampling programs: MT 43, random raw ground beef; MT 55, random bench trim; and the follow-up sampling programs: MT44, MT 52, and MT 53.
For more information, please contact Jolyda Swaim
FSIS Notice 62-09: Compositing of Environmental Samples Collected During Routine Risk-Based Listeria monocytogenes (RLm) Sampling- December 28, 2011
Today the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) issued Notice 79-11, "Compositing of Environmental Samples Collected During Routine Risk-based Listeria monocytogenes (RLm) Sampling." This Notice reissues the content of Notice 59-10 that expired on November 1, 2010. We have attached our memorandum on Notice 59-10 for your review.
FSIS decided it was necessary to reissue this Notice as it provides "important instructions to Enforcement, Investigations and Analysis Officers (EIAOs) on collecting environmental (non-food contact) samples during routine RLm sampling and instructions on how to complete FSIS Form 10,210.3."
Notice 79-11 may be viewed at: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/rdad/FSISNotices/79-11.pdf
For more information, please contact Jolyda Swaim
FSIS Notice 78-11, "FSIS Actions in Establishments that Temporarily Alter Routine Practices During Routine Risk-based Lm (RLm) Sampling or Intensified Verification Testing (IVT)"-December 28, 2011
Today the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) issued Notice 78-11, "FSIS Actions in Establishments that Temporarily Alter Routine Practices During Routine Risk-based Listeria monocytogenes (RLm) Sampling or Intensified Verification Testing (IVT)." This Notice provides instructions to Enforcement, Investigations, and Analysis Officers (EIAO) on how to sample in establishments where practices have been temporarily altered in response to notification that FSIS sampling will occur. The Notice may be viewed at: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/rdad/FSISNotices/78-11.pdf
For more information, please contact Jolyda Swaim
FSIS Notice 77-11, "Announcing the Final Rule Requiring Nutrition Labeling of the Major Cuts of Single-Ingredient, Raw Meat and Poultry Products and Ground or Chopped Meat and Poultry Products"- December 28, 2011
Today, FSIS issued Notice 77-11, "Announcing the Final Rule Requiring Nutrition Labeling of the Major Cuts of Single-Ingredient, Raw Meat and Poultry Products and Ground or Chopped Meat and Poultry Products." The Notice is available at:
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/rdad/FSISNotices/77-11.pdf
The Notice replaces FSIS Notice 43-11 to inform inspection program personnel (IPP) of the delay in the implementation date of the final rule. As announced in the December 9, 2011 Federal Register, the effective date of the final rule is now March 1, 2012.
The Notice also instructs Inspectors-in-Charge (IIC) at official establishments to have an awareness meeting with establishment management to inform them of the delay of the effective date and to make management aware of information on FSIS' website regarding the final rule.
For more information, please contact Brett T. Schwemer
FSIS Directive 9530.1, "Importation of Live Canadian Cattle, Sheep, and Goats into the United States"- December 23, 2011
Yesterday, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) issued Directive 9530.1, "Importation of Live Canadian Cattle, Sheep, and Goats into the United States." The Directive is available at: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/rdad/FSISDirectives/9530.1.pdf.
The Directive provides FSIS personnel verification instructions relating to the receipt, slaughter and inspection of live ruminants (cattle, sheep, and goats) imported from Canada. Key Points include:
- Verifying food safety systems for establishments that import Canadian cattle;
- Verifying live cattle, sheep and goats arriving from Canada;
- Verifying Canadian-born live sheep and goats arriving from a United States feedlot to an official establishment;
- Verifying when an establishment breaks seals on trucks; and
- Completing and distributing forms.
The Directive also includes a change in the action inspection program personnel (IPP) are to take when verifying the number of animals arriving at an establishment against those animals listed on a VS Form 17-33 or Canadian health certificate.
For more information, please contact Brett T. Schwemer
FSIS Directive 5010.1, "Food Safety Related Topics for Discussion During Weekly Meetings"- December 22, 2011
The United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) issued Directive 5010.1, "Food Safety Related Topics for Discussion During Weekly
Meetings." This Directive stresses the importance of the weekly meetings1 and the need to use these meetings to address any pertinent food safety topics. FSIS indicated it has issued this Directive because it had become aware that inspection program personnel (IPP) and Import Inspection Personnel are not discussing many topics pertinent to establishments' food safety systems and/or that could affect public health during scheduled weekly meetings.
Directive 5010.1 may be viewed at: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/oppde/rdad/FSISDirectives/5010.1.pdfn
For more information, please contact Brett T. Schwemer
USDA and HHS Media Call on the Food Safety Working Group Progress Report- December 21, 2011
Today, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) held a media conference call to discuss the release of a progress report highlighting the accomplishments and strategies of the President's Food Safety Working Group (FSWG). Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack gave remarks and answered questions. Attached please find the FSWG progress report, a USDA press release summarizing the conference call and a recent GAO report on the FSWG.
During the question and answer period following the opening remarks, Secretary Vilsack and Secretary Sebelius discussed efforts to collaborate on a government-wide performance plan as recommended by the GAO, ensuring that antibiotics for farm anima ls are used in a judicious manner, driving down the salmonella contamination rates, and the USDA's test-and-hold policy. Please note that Congressional Quarterly, The Hill, and Reuters were on the call.
For more information, please contact Barbara Masters
FSIS Notice 74-11, "The Process of Setting Up Establishments in PHIS."- December 20, 2011
Today, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) published FSIS Notice 74-11, "The Process of Setting Up Establishments in PHIS." This Notice provides step-by-step instructions for the District Offices to use in transferring agency data from the old system to the new system.
In short, the Public Health Inspection System (PHIS) will use establishment information from the Performance Based Inspection System (PBIS) to schedule tasks and enter the verification results in the new system. Accordingly, FSIS must transfer the data from one system to the other. This will be performed primarily by the District Offices.
In entering the data in PHIS, the field personnel are to use the individual establishment's PBIS ID. This is different from the official establishment number. Continuing use of the PBIS ID allows the two systems to associate all data related to that establishment over time.
For more information, please contact Dennis Johnson
