Department of Agriculture May 30, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), is sponsoring a public meeting on June 5, 2007. The objective of the public meeting is to provide information and receive public comments on agenda items and draft United States positions that will be discussed at the Thirtieth Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), which will be held in Rome, Italy, July 2-7, 2007. The Under Secretary for Food Safety recognizes the importance of providing interested parties the opportunity to obtain background information on the 30th Session of CAC and to address items on the agenda.

This notice announces that the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF) will hold public meetings of the full Committee and subcommittees on June 4-8, 2007. The Committee will discuss: (1) Determination of Cooking Parameters for Safe Seafood for Consumers, (2) Assessment of the Food Safety Importance of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis, (3) Determination of the Most Appropriate Technologies for the Food Safety and Inspection Service to Adopt in Performing Routine and Baseline Microbiological Analyses, and (4) Parameters for Inoculated Pack Challenge Study Protocols.

This rule revises the reporting requirements established under the California desert grape marketing order, which regulates the handling of grapes grown in a designated area of Southeastern California. The marketing order is administered locally by the California Desert Grape Administrative Committee (CDGAC or committee). This rule requires handlers to provide an annual report to the committee which lists the acreages devoted to grapes for fresh shipment, the owners and locations of the acreages, and varieties produced thereon that the handler will be handling during the upcoming season. This change allows the committee to collect information on the acreage and varieties of desert grapes regulated under the marketing order, thus improving data collection and the efficient operation of the program.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is publishing this notice to articulate its position on the slaughter for human food of hogs and chickens from farms identified as having purchased or otherwise received pet food scraps that contain melamine and melamine- related compounds. The contaminated pet food scraps were used to supplement animal feed on farms in several States. The results of an interim safety/risk assessment indicate that, based on currently available data and information, the consumption of pork, poultry, eggs, and domestic fish products from animals inadvertently fed animal feed contaminated with melamine and melamine-related compounds is very unlikely to pose a human health risk. Based on the findings of the interim safety/risk assessment, as well as the results of validated testing for melamine concentration that has been conducted on tissue samples of hogs and chickens exposed to the adulterated feed, FSIS has determined that pork and poultry products from all animals identified as having been fed animal feed containing contaminated pet food scraps are ``not adulterated'' and are thus eligible to receive the mark of inspection. All such animals that were being held on farms have been released and may be offered for slaughter for human food.