Control of Listeria monocytogenes in Ready-To-Eat Foods: Revised Draft Guidance for Industry; Availability, 4803-4805 [2017-00819]
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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 10 / Tuesday, January 17, 2017 / Proposed Rules
Authority: 15 U.S.C. 1124, 1125, 1127; 17
U.S.C. 101, 601, 602, 603; 19 U.S.C. 66, 1202,
1499, 1526, 1624; 31 U.S.C. 9701.
*
*
*
*
*
Section 133.61 also issued under Sec.
308(d), Pub. L. 114–125; Sec. 507, Pub. L.
108–90; Sec. 2, Pub. L. 114–279.
Subpart G—[Reserved].
2. Add and reserve subpart G.
3. Add subpart H, consisting of
§ 133.61, to read as follows:
■
■
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with PROPOSALS
(a) Scope. The Commissioner of U.S.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is
authorized to accept donations of
hardware, software, equipment, and
similar technologies, as well as donated
support services and training, from
private sector entities, for the purpose of
assisting CBP in enforcing intellectual
property rights. Such acceptance must
be consistent with the conditions set
forth in this section and section 308(d)
of the Trade Facilitation and Trade
Enforcement Act of 2015, as well as
either section 482 of the Homeland
Security Act of 2002 or section 507 of
the DHS Appropriations Act of 2004.
(b) Donation offer. A donation offer
must be submitted to CBP either via
email, to IPRdonations@cbp.dhs.gov, or
mailed to the attention of the Executive
Assistant Commissioner, Office of Field
Operations, or his/her designee. The
donation offer must describe the
proposed donation in sufficient detail to
enable CBP to determine its
compatibility with existing CBP
technologies, networks, and facilities
(e.g. operating system or similar
requirements, power supply
requirements, item size and weight,
etc.). The donation offer must also
include information pertaining to the
donation’s scope, purpose, expected
benefits, intended use, costs, and
attached conditions, as applicable, that
is sufficient to enable CBP to evaluate
the donation and make a determination
as to whether to accept it. CBP will
notify the donor, in writing, if
additional information is requested or if
CBP has determined that it will not
accept the donation.
(c) Agreement to accept donation. If
CBP accepts a donation of hardware,
software, equipment, technologies, or to
accept training and other support
services, for the purpose of enforcing
intellectual property rights, CBP will
enter into a signed, written agreement
with an authorized representative of the
17:33 Jan 13, 2017
Jkt 241001
SUMMARY:
Although you can comment on
any guidance at any time (see 21 CFR
10.115(g)(5)), to ensure that we consider
your comment on the draft guidance
before we issue the final version of the
Written/Paper Submissions
Submit written/paper submissions as
follows:
• Mail/Hand delivery/Courier (for
written/paper submissions): Division of
Dockets Management (HFA–305), Food
and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers
Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.
• For written/paper comments
submitted to the Division of Dockets
Management, FDA will post your
comment, as well as any attachments,
except for information submitted,
marked and identified, as confidential,
if submitted as detailed in
‘‘Instructions.’’
Instructions: All submissions received
must include the Docket No. FDA–
2008–D–0096 for ‘‘Control of Listeria
monocytogenes in Ready-To-Eat Foods.’’
Received comments will be placed in
the docket and, except for those
submitted as ‘‘Confidential
Submissions,’’ publicly viewable at
https://www.regulations.gov or at the
Division of Dockets Management
between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday
through Friday.
• Confidential Submissions—To
submit a comment with confidential
information that you do not wish to be
[FR Doc. 2017–00653 Filed 1–13–17; 8:45 am]
§ 133.61 Donations of intellectual property
rights technology and support services.
guidance, submit either electronic or
written comments on the draft guidance
by July 26, 2017.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
as follows:
Electronic Submissions
Submit electronic comments in the
following way:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal:
https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
Comments submitted electronically,
including attachments, to https://
www.regulations.gov will be posted to
the docket unchanged. Because your
comment will be made public, you are
solely responsible for ensuring that your
comment does not include any
confidential information that you or a
third party may not wish to be posted,
such as medical information, your or
anyone else’s Social Security number, or
confidential business information, such
as a manufacturing process. Please note
that if you include your name, contact
information, or other information that
identifies you in the body of your
comments, that information will be
posted on https://www.regulations.gov.
• If you want to submit a comment
with confidential information that you
do not wish to be made available to the
public, submit the comment as a
written/paper submission and in the
manner detailed (see ‘‘Written/Paper
Submissions’’ and ‘‘Instructions’’).
R. Gil Kerlikowske,
Commissioner.
Approved: January 09, 2017.
Timothy E. Skud,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.
Subpart H—Donations of Intellectual
Property Rights Technology and
Support Services.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
donor. The agreement must contain all
applicable terms and conditions of the
donation. An agreement to accept
training and other support services must
provide that the services or training are
offered without the expectation of
payment, and that the service provider
expressly waives any future claims
against the government.
4803
BILLING CODE 9111–14–P
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
Food and Drug Administration
21 CFR Part 117
[Docket No. FDA–2008–D–0096 (Formerly
Docket No. 2007D–0494)]
Control of Listeria monocytogenes in
Ready-To-Eat Foods: Revised Draft
Guidance for Industry; Availability
AGENCY:
Food and Drug Administration,
HHS.
ACTION:
Notification of availability.
The Food and Drug
Administration (FDA, we, or Agency) is
announcing the availability of a revised
draft guidance for industry entitled
‘‘Control of Listeria monocytogenes in
Ready-To-Eat Foods.’’ The revised draft
guidance is intended for any person
who is subject to our regulation entitled
‘‘Current Good Manufacturing Practice,
Hazard Analysis, and Risk-Based
Preventive Controls for Human Food’’
and who manufactures, processes,
packs, or holds ready-to-eat (RTE) foods.
The revised draft guidance is intended
to help such persons comply with the
requirements of that regulation with
respect to measures that can
significantly minimize or prevent the
contamination of RTE food with L.
monocytogenes whenever a RTE food is
exposed to the environment prior to
packaging and the packaged food does
not receive a treatment or otherwise
include a control measure (such as a
formulation lethal to L. monocytogenes)
that would significantly minimize L.
monocytogenes.
DATES:
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sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with PROPOSALS
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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 10 / Tuesday, January 17, 2017 / Proposed Rules
made publicly available, submit your
comments only as a written/paper
submission. You should submit two
copies total. One copy will include the
information you claim to be confidential
with a heading or cover note that states
‘‘THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS
CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.’’ The
Agency will review this copy, including
the claimed confidential information, in
its consideration of comments. The
second copy, which will have the
claimed confidential information
redacted/blacked out, will be available
for public viewing and posted on
https://www.regulations.gov. Submit
both copies to the Division of Dockets
Management. If you do not wish your
name and contact information to be
made publicly available, you can
provide this information on the cover
sheet and not in the body of your
comments and you must identify this
information as ‘‘confidential.’’ Any
information marked as ‘‘confidential’’
will not be disclosed except in
accordance with 21 CFR 10.20 and other
applicable disclosure law. For more
information about FDA’s posting of
comments to public dockets, see 80 FR
56469, September 18, 2015, or access
the information at: https://www.fda.gov/
regulatoryinformation/dockets/
default.htm.
Docket: For access to the docket to
read background documents or the
electronic and written/paper comments
received, go to https://
www.regulations.gov and insert the
docket number, found in brackets in the
heading of this document, into the
‘‘Search’’ box and follow the prompts
and/or go to the Division of Dockets
Management, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm.
1061, Rockville, MD 20852.
Submit written requests for single
copies of the revised draft guidance to
the Office of Food Safety, Center for
Food Safety and Applied Nutrition,
Food and Drug Administration (HFS–
300), 5001 Campus Dr., College Park,
MD 20740. Send two self-addressed
adhesive labels to assist that office in
processing your request. See the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for
electronic access to the revised draft
guidance.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jenny Scott, Center for Food Safety and
Applied Nutrition (HFS–300), Food and
Drug Administration, 5001 Campus Dr.,
College Park, MD 20740, 240–402–2166.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
We are announcing the availability of
a revised draft guidance for industry
entitled ‘‘Control of Listeria
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:33 Jan 13, 2017
Jkt 241001
monocytogenes in Ready-To-Eat Foods.’’
We are issuing the revised draft
guidance consistent with our good
guidance practices regulation (21 CFR
10.115). The revised draft guidance,
when finalized, will represent the
current thinking of FDA on this topic.
It does not establish any rights for any
person and is not binding on FDA or the
public. You can use an alternate
approach if it satisfies the requirements
of the applicable statutes and
regulations.
In the Federal Register of February 7,
2008 (73 FR 7293), we made available
a draft guidance for industry entitled
‘‘Control of Listeria monocytogenes in
Refrigerated or Frozen Ready-To-Eat
Foods’’ (the 2008 draft Listeria
guidance). The recommendations in the
2008 draft Listeria guidance were
intended to complement the
requirements in a regulation entitled
‘‘Current Good Manufacturing Practice
in Manufacturing, Packing, or Holding
Human Food,’’ which had been
established in part 110 (21 CFR part
110). The recommendations in the 2008
draft Listeria guidance also were
intended to assist processors of
refrigerated and frozen RTE foods in
meeting the requirements in part 110
with respect to the control of L.
monocytogenes. We gave interested
parties an opportunity to submit
comments by April 7, 2008, for us to
consider before beginning work on the
final version of the guidance. We
received several comments on the 2008
draft Listeria guidance.
Since issuing the 2008 draft Listeria
guidance, we conducted rulemaking to
amend the current good manufacturing
practice (CGMP) requirements in part
110 to modernize them and establish
them in new part 117 (21 CFR part 117),
subparts A, B, and F (80 FR 55908,
September 17, 2015). Part 117 (entitled
‘‘Current Good Manufacturing Practice,
Hazard Analysis, and Risk-Based
Preventive Controls for Human Food’’)
also includes new requirements (in
subparts A, C, D, E, F, and G) for
domestic and foreign facilities that are
required to register under section 415 of
the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic
Act (the FD&C Act) (21 U.S.C. 350d) to
establish and implement hazard
analysis and risk-based preventive
controls for human food (the human
food preventive controls requirements).
The new human food preventive
controls requirements are part of our
implementation of the FDA Food Safety
Modernization Act (FSMA; Pub. L. 111–
353). We also discussed certain
recommendations in the 2008 draft
Listeria guidance with our Food
Advisory Committee during a meeting
PO 00000
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Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
held on December 7 and 8, 2015 (80 FR
69229, November 9, 2015 and Ref. 1).
We have revised the 2008 draft
Listeria guidance to reflect the
comments we received on that draft
guidance, the amended CGMP
requirements now established in part
117, the new human food preventive
controls requirements established in
part 117, and the recommendations of
our Food Advisory Committee (Ref. 2).
The revised draft guidance is intended
to explain our current thinking on
procedures and practices to help food
establishments that are subject to part
117 to: (1) Comply with the CGMP
requirements of part 117 (e.g., for
personnel, buildings and facilities,
equipment and utensils, and production
and process controls) during the
production of an RTE food that is
exposed to the environment prior to
packaging and the packaged food does
not receive a treatment or otherwise
include a control measure (such as a
formulation lethal to L. monocytogenes)
that would significantly minimize L.
monocytogenes; and (2) comply with
certain human food preventive controls
requirements regarding environmental
pathogens in such RTE foods.
Part 117 defines ‘‘environmental
pathogen’’ to mean a pathogen capable
of surviving and persisting within the
manufacturing, processing, packing, or
holding environment such that food
may be contaminated and may result in
foodborne illness if that food is
consumed without treatment to
significantly minimize the
environmental pathogen (21 CFR 117.3).
Within that definition, L.
monocytogenes is listed as an example
of an environmental pathogen. The
hazard analysis required by part 117
must include an evaluation of
environmental pathogens whenever an
RTE food is exposed to the environment
prior to packaging and the packaged
food does not receive a treatment or
otherwise include a control measure
(such as a formulation lethal to the
pathogen) that would significantly
minimize the pathogen
(§ 117.130(c)(1)(ii)). If the hazard
analysis identifies L. monocytogenes as
a hazard requiring a preventive control,
the facility must identify one or more
preventive controls to provide
assurances that L. monocytogenes will
be significantly minimized or prevented
in the facility’s food products and the
food manufactured, processed, packed,
or held by the facility will not be
adulterated under section 402 of the
FD&C Act (§ 117.135(a)). In addition, the
human food preventive controls
requirements specify that, as
appropriate to the facility, the food, and
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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 10 / Tuesday, January 17, 2017 / Proposed Rules
the nature of the preventive control and
its role in the facility’s food safety
system, the facility must conduct
activities that include environmental
monitoring, for an environmental
pathogen or for an appropriate indicator
organism, if contamination of an RTE
food with an environmental pathogen is
a hazard requiring a preventive control,
by collecting and testing environmental
samples (§ 117.165(a)(3)). The revised
draft guidance includes
recommendations for controls to
significantly minimize or prevent L.
monocytogenes in RTE foods, for
sanitation controls to eliminate L.
monocytogenes from the food
production environment, and for
environmental monitoring as
verification of sanitation controls.
II. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with PROPOSALS
The revised draft guidance refers to
previously approved collections of
information found in FDA regulations.
These collections of information are
subject to review by the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) under
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(the PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501–3520). The
collections of information in part 117
have been approved under OMB Control
No. 0910–0751.
FDA tentatively concludes that the
revised draft guidance also contains
proposed information collection
provisions that are subject to review by
OMB under the PRA but are not
included in the information collection
approved under OMB Control No. 0910–
0751. ‘‘Collection of information’’ is
defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR
1320.3(c) and includes Agency requests
or requirements that members of the
public submit reports, keep records, or
provide information to a third party.
Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA (44
U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)) requires Federal
Agencies to provide a 60-day notice in
the Federal Register for each proposed
collection of information before
submitting the collection to OMB for
approval. To comply with this
requirement, we will publish a 60-day
notice on the proposed collection of
information in a future issue of the
Federal Register.
III. Electronic Access
Persons with access to the Internet
may obtain the revised draft guidance at
either https://www.fda.gov/
FoodGuidances or https://
www.regulations.gov. Use the FDA Web
site listed in the previous sentence to
find the most current version of the
guidance.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:33 Jan 13, 2017
Jkt 241001
IV. References
The following references are on
display at the Division of Dockets
Management (see ADDRESSES) and are
available for viewing by interested
persons between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.,
Monday through Friday; they are also
available electronically at https://
www.regulations.gov. FDA has verified
the Web site addresses, as of the date
this document publishes in the Federal
Register, but Web sites are subject to
change over time.
1. FDA. 2015. Food Advisory Committee
Meeting, Charge and Questions. Topic:
Addressing Listeria monocytogenes in
Ready-To-Eat Foods, December 7–8,
2015. Available at https://www.fda.gov/
downloads/AdvisoryCommittees/
CommitteesMeetingMaterials/
FoodAdvisoryCommittee/
UCM472842.pdf.
2. FDA. 2015. Food Advisory Committee
(FAC) Recommendations. Topic:
Addressing Listeria monocytogenes in
Ready-To-Eat Foods, December 7–8,
2015. Available at https://www.fda.gov/
downloads/AdvisoryCommittees/
CommitteesMeetingMaterials/
FoodAdvisoryCommittee/
UCM476521.pdf.
Dated: January 11, 2017.
Leslie Kux,
Associate Commissioner for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2017–00819 Filed 1–13–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4164–01–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
40 CFR Parts 141 and 143
[EPA–HQ–OW–2015–0680; FRL–9958–23–
OW]
RIN 2040–AF55
Use of Lead Free Pipes, Fittings,
Fixtures, Solder and Flux for Drinking
Water
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
AGENCY:
The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) proposes to make
conforming changes to existing drinking
water regulations based on the
Reduction of Lead in Drinking Water
Act of 2011 (RLDWA) and the
Community Fire Safety Act of 2013
(CFSA). Section 1417 of the Safe
Drinking Water Act (SDWA) prohibits
the use and introduction into commerce
of certain plumbing products that are
not lead free. The RLDWA revised the
definition of lead free to lower the
allowable maximum lead content from
8.0 percent to a weighted average of 0.25
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
4805
percent of the wetted surfaces of
plumbing products and established a
statutory method for calculating lead
content. In addition, the RLDWA
created exemptions from the lead free
requirements for plumbing products
that are used exclusively for nonpotable
services as well as for other specified
products. The CFSA further amended
section 1417 to exempt fire hydrants
from these requirements.
EPA proposes to establish new
requirements to assure that individuals
purchasing, installing or inspecting
potable water systems can identify lead
free plumbing materials. Specifically,
EPA proposes to establish labeling
requirements to differentiate plumbing
products that meet the lead free
requirements from those that are exempt
from the lead free requirements and to
require manufacturers to certify
compliance with the lead free
requirements. These proposed
requirements would reduce inadvertent
use of non-lead free plumbing products
in potable use applications and,
consequently, reduce exposure to lead
in drinking water and associated
adverse health effects.
DATES: Comments must be received on
or before April 17, 2017.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments,
identified by Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–
OW–2015–0680, to the Federal
eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the online
instructions for submitting comments.
Once submitted, comments cannot be
edited or withdrawn. EPA may publish
any comment received to its public
docket. Do not submit electronically any
information you consider to be
Confidential Business Information (CBI)
or other information whose disclosure is
restricted by statute. Multimedia
submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be
accompanied by a written comment.
The written comment is considered the
official comment and should include
discussion of all points you wish to
make. EPA will generally not consider
comments or comment contents located
outside of the primary submission (i.e.,
on the web, cloud, or other file sharing
system).
For additional submission methods,
the full EPA public comment policy,
information about CBI or multimedia
submissions, and general guidance on
making effective comments, please visit
https://www2.epa.gov/dockets/
commenting-epa-dockets.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Russ
Perkinson, telephone number: 202–564–
4901; email address: perkinson.russ@
epa.gov, Office of Ground Water and
Drinking Water, Standards and Risk
E:\FR\FM\17JAP1.SGM
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 10 (Tuesday, January 17, 2017)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 4803-4805]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-00819]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Food and Drug Administration
21 CFR Part 117
[Docket No. FDA-2008-D-0096 (Formerly Docket No. 2007D-0494)]
Control of Listeria monocytogenes in Ready-To-Eat Foods: Revised
Draft Guidance for Industry; Availability
AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.
ACTION: Notification of availability.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA, we, or Agency) is
announcing the availability of a revised draft guidance for industry
entitled ``Control of Listeria monocytogenes in Ready-To-Eat Foods.''
The revised draft guidance is intended for any person who is subject to
our regulation entitled ``Current Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard
Analysis, and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Human Food'' and who
manufactures, processes, packs, or holds ready-to-eat (RTE) foods. The
revised draft guidance is intended to help such persons comply with the
requirements of that regulation with respect to measures that can
significantly minimize or prevent the contamination of RTE food with L.
monocytogenes whenever a RTE food is exposed to the environment prior
to packaging and the packaged food does not receive a treatment or
otherwise include a control measure (such as a formulation lethal to L.
monocytogenes) that would significantly minimize L. monocytogenes.
DATES: Although you can comment on any guidance at any time (see 21 CFR
10.115(g)(5)), to ensure that we consider your comment on the draft
guidance before we issue the final version of the guidance, submit
either electronic or written comments on the draft guidance by July 26,
2017.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments as follows:
Electronic Submissions
Submit electronic comments in the following way:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Comments submitted
electronically, including attachments, to https://www.regulations.gov
will be posted to the docket unchanged. Because your comment will be
made public, you are solely responsible for ensuring that your comment
does not include any confidential information that you or a third party
may not wish to be posted, such as medical information, your or anyone
else's Social Security number, or confidential business information,
such as a manufacturing process. Please note that if you include your
name, contact information, or other information that identifies you in
the body of your comments, that information will be posted on https://www.regulations.gov.
If you want to submit a comment with confidential
information that you do not wish to be made available to the public,
submit the comment as a written/paper submission and in the manner
detailed (see ``Written/Paper Submissions'' and ``Instructions'').
Written/Paper Submissions
Submit written/paper submissions as follows:
Mail/Hand delivery/Courier (for written/paper
submissions): Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305), Food and Drug
Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.
For written/paper comments submitted to the Division of
Dockets Management, FDA will post your comment, as well as any
attachments, except for information submitted, marked and identified,
as confidential, if submitted as detailed in ``Instructions.''
Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket No.
FDA-2008-D-0096 for ``Control of Listeria monocytogenes in Ready-To-Eat
Foods.'' Received comments will be placed in the docket and, except for
those submitted as ``Confidential Submissions,'' publicly viewable at
https://www.regulations.gov or at the Division of Dockets Management
between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Confidential Submissions--To submit a comment with
confidential information that you do not wish to be
[[Page 4804]]
made publicly available, submit your comments only as a written/paper
submission. You should submit two copies total. One copy will include
the information you claim to be confidential with a heading or cover
note that states ``THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.''
The Agency will review this copy, including the claimed confidential
information, in its consideration of comments. The second copy, which
will have the claimed confidential information redacted/blacked out,
will be available for public viewing and posted on https://www.regulations.gov. Submit both copies to the Division of Dockets
Management. If you do not wish your name and contact information to be
made publicly available, you can provide this information on the cover
sheet and not in the body of your comments and you must identify this
information as ``confidential.'' Any information marked as
``confidential'' will not be disclosed except in accordance with 21 CFR
10.20 and other applicable disclosure law. For more information about
FDA's posting of comments to public dockets, see 80 FR 56469, September
18, 2015, or access the information at: https://www.fda.gov/regulatoryinformation/dockets/default.htm.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
the electronic and written/paper comments received, go to https://www.regulations.gov and insert the docket number, found in brackets in
the heading of this document, into the ``Search'' box and follow the
prompts and/or go to the Division of Dockets Management, 5630 Fishers
Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.
Submit written requests for single copies of the revised draft
guidance to the Office of Food Safety, Center for Food Safety and
Applied Nutrition, Food and Drug Administration (HFS-300), 5001 Campus
Dr., College Park, MD 20740. Send two self-addressed adhesive labels to
assist that office in processing your request. See the SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION section for electronic access to the revised draft
guidance.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jenny Scott, Center for Food Safety
and Applied Nutrition (HFS-300), Food and Drug Administration, 5001
Campus Dr., College Park, MD 20740, 240-402-2166.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
We are announcing the availability of a revised draft guidance for
industry entitled ``Control of Listeria monocytogenes in Ready-To-Eat
Foods.'' We are issuing the revised draft guidance consistent with our
good guidance practices regulation (21 CFR 10.115). The revised draft
guidance, when finalized, will represent the current thinking of FDA on
this topic. It does not establish any rights for any person and is not
binding on FDA or the public. You can use an alternate approach if it
satisfies the requirements of the applicable statutes and regulations.
In the Federal Register of February 7, 2008 (73 FR 7293), we made
available a draft guidance for industry entitled ``Control of Listeria
monocytogenes in Refrigerated or Frozen Ready-To-Eat Foods'' (the 2008
draft Listeria guidance). The recommendations in the 2008 draft
Listeria guidance were intended to complement the requirements in a
regulation entitled ``Current Good Manufacturing Practice in
Manufacturing, Packing, or Holding Human Food,'' which had been
established in part 110 (21 CFR part 110). The recommendations in the
2008 draft Listeria guidance also were intended to assist processors of
refrigerated and frozen RTE foods in meeting the requirements in part
110 with respect to the control of L. monocytogenes. We gave interested
parties an opportunity to submit comments by April 7, 2008, for us to
consider before beginning work on the final version of the guidance. We
received several comments on the 2008 draft Listeria guidance.
Since issuing the 2008 draft Listeria guidance, we conducted
rulemaking to amend the current good manufacturing practice (CGMP)
requirements in part 110 to modernize them and establish them in new
part 117 (21 CFR part 117), subparts A, B, and F (80 FR 55908,
September 17, 2015). Part 117 (entitled ``Current Good Manufacturing
Practice, Hazard Analysis, and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Human
Food'') also includes new requirements (in subparts A, C, D, E, F, and
G) for domestic and foreign facilities that are required to register
under section 415 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the FD&C
Act) (21 U.S.C. 350d) to establish and implement hazard analysis and
risk-based preventive controls for human food (the human food
preventive controls requirements). The new human food preventive
controls requirements are part of our implementation of the FDA Food
Safety Modernization Act (FSMA; Pub. L. 111-353). We also discussed
certain recommendations in the 2008 draft Listeria guidance with our
Food Advisory Committee during a meeting held on December 7 and 8, 2015
(80 FR 69229, November 9, 2015 and Ref. 1).
We have revised the 2008 draft Listeria guidance to reflect the
comments we received on that draft guidance, the amended CGMP
requirements now established in part 117, the new human food preventive
controls requirements established in part 117, and the recommendations
of our Food Advisory Committee (Ref. 2). The revised draft guidance is
intended to explain our current thinking on procedures and practices to
help food establishments that are subject to part 117 to: (1) Comply
with the CGMP requirements of part 117 (e.g., for personnel, buildings
and facilities, equipment and utensils, and production and process
controls) during the production of an RTE food that is exposed to the
environment prior to packaging and the packaged food does not receive a
treatment or otherwise include a control measure (such as a formulation
lethal to L. monocytogenes) that would significantly minimize L.
monocytogenes; and (2) comply with certain human food preventive
controls requirements regarding environmental pathogens in such RTE
foods.
Part 117 defines ``environmental pathogen'' to mean a pathogen
capable of surviving and persisting within the manufacturing,
processing, packing, or holding environment such that food may be
contaminated and may result in foodborne illness if that food is
consumed without treatment to significantly minimize the environmental
pathogen (21 CFR 117.3). Within that definition, L. monocytogenes is
listed as an example of an environmental pathogen. The hazard analysis
required by part 117 must include an evaluation of environmental
pathogens whenever an RTE food is exposed to the environment prior to
packaging and the packaged food does not receive a treatment or
otherwise include a control measure (such as a formulation lethal to
the pathogen) that would significantly minimize the pathogen (Sec.
117.130(c)(1)(ii)). If the hazard analysis identifies L. monocytogenes
as a hazard requiring a preventive control, the facility must identify
one or more preventive controls to provide assurances that L.
monocytogenes will be significantly minimized or prevented in the
facility's food products and the food manufactured, processed, packed,
or held by the facility will not be adulterated under section 402 of
the FD&C Act (Sec. 117.135(a)). In addition, the human food preventive
controls requirements specify that, as appropriate to the facility, the
food, and
[[Page 4805]]
the nature of the preventive control and its role in the facility's
food safety system, the facility must conduct activities that include
environmental monitoring, for an environmental pathogen or for an
appropriate indicator organism, if contamination of an RTE food with an
environmental pathogen is a hazard requiring a preventive control, by
collecting and testing environmental samples (Sec. 117.165(a)(3)). The
revised draft guidance includes recommendations for controls to
significantly minimize or prevent L. monocytogenes in RTE foods, for
sanitation controls to eliminate L. monocytogenes from the food
production environment, and for environmental monitoring as
verification of sanitation controls.
II. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
The revised draft guidance refers to previously approved
collections of information found in FDA regulations. These collections
of information are subject to review by the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (the PRA) (44
U.S.C. 3501-3520). The collections of information in part 117 have been
approved under OMB Control No. 0910-0751.
FDA tentatively concludes that the revised draft guidance also
contains proposed information collection provisions that are subject to
review by OMB under the PRA but are not included in the information
collection approved under OMB Control No. 0910-0751. ``Collection of
information'' is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3(c) and
includes Agency requests or requirements that members of the public
submit reports, keep records, or provide information to a third party.
Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)) requires
Federal Agencies to provide a 60-day notice in the Federal Register for
each proposed collection of information before submitting the
collection to OMB for approval. To comply with this requirement, we
will publish a 60-day notice on the proposed collection of information
in a future issue of the Federal Register.
III. Electronic Access
Persons with access to the Internet may obtain the revised draft
guidance at either https://www.fda.gov/FoodGuidances or https://www.regulations.gov. Use the FDA Web site listed in the previous
sentence to find the most current version of the guidance.
IV. References
The following references are on display at the Division of Dockets
Management (see ADDRESSES) and are available for viewing by interested
persons between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday; they are also
available electronically at https://www.regulations.gov. FDA has
verified the Web site addresses, as of the date this document publishes
in the Federal Register, but Web sites are subject to change over time.
1. FDA. 2015. Food Advisory Committee Meeting, Charge and Questions.
Topic: Addressing Listeria monocytogenes in Ready-To-Eat Foods,
December 7-8, 2015. Available at https://www.fda.gov/downloads/AdvisoryCommittees/CommitteesMeetingMaterials/FoodAdvisoryCommittee/UCM472842.pdf.
2. FDA. 2015. Food Advisory Committee (FAC) Recommendations. Topic:
Addressing Listeria monocytogenes in Ready-To-Eat Foods, December 7-
8, 2015. Available at https://www.fda.gov/downloads/AdvisoryCommittees/CommitteesMeetingMaterials/FoodAdvisoryCommittee/UCM476521.pdf.
Dated: January 11, 2017.
Leslie Kux,
Associate Commissioner for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2017-00819 Filed 1-13-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4164-01-P