Food Safety and Inspection Service September 20, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) intends to carry out verification procedures, including sampling and testing manufacturing trim and other raw ground beef product components, to ensure control of both Escherichia coli O157:H7 (E. coli O157:H7) and six other serogroups of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) (O26, O45, O103, O111, O121, and O145). The Agency intends to implement sampling and testing for the additional STEC. FSIS has determined that they, as well as O157:H7, are adulterants of non-intact raw beef products and product components within the meaning of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA). The Agency is publishing guidance for use in validating commercial pathogen detection test kits that may be capable of detecting the STEC of concern. Finally, the Agency is planning a comprehensive survey of its field personnel who are stationed in beef slaughtering and processing establishments, similar to the 2007 ``checklist'' survey, to determine the processing practices that are employed to reduce the likelihood of contamination of intact and non- intact beef products with these STEC.