Food Safety and Inspection Service April 7, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are requesting comments and scientific data and information that would assist the agencies in their plan to update a risk assessment on the relationship between foodborne Listeria monocytogenes in selected categories of ready-to-eat (RTE) foods and human health. The purpose of the risk assessment is to incorporate newly available scientific data and information into the risk assessment in order to update estimates of the relative risk of illness and death associated with the consumption of different types of RTE foods that may be contaminated with L. monocytogenes and to evaluate the relative effectiveness of strategies to reduce or prevent exposure to L. monocytogenes from the consumption of RTE foods, including, for example, the impact of changing refrigerated time and temperature storage prior to consumption.