Food Safety and Inspection Service December 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS; also Agency) is clarifying its approach within the National Residue Program's (NRP's) Tier 2 exploratory program when it tests tissue samples collected from livestock and poultry carcasses and detects chemicals that do not have established tolerances or other regulatory levels. This approach applies to potentially hazardous chemicals that are not animal drugs or pesticide chemicals with established tolerances. The Agency also intends to apply this approach to egg products should these products become subject to chemical testing and to products from fish of the order Siluriformes when the final rule to make these species amenable to the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) is fully implemented. FSIS requests comments on the approach discussed in this document, and on how FSIS can further improve its management of environmental contaminants and other chemical hazards in meat and poultry products.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing the availability of and requesting comment on the revised guideline to assist poultry establishments in controlling Salmonella and Campylobacter in raw poultry. The Agency has revised its guideline to provide updated information for establishments to use to control pathogens in raw poultry products with the goal of reducing human illnesses associated with consuming poultry contaminated with Salmonella and Campylobacter. The guideline represents the best practice recommendations of FSIS based on scientific and practical considerations. This document does not represent regulatory requirements. By following this guideline, poultry establishments should be able to produce raw poultry products that have less contamination with pathogens, including Salmonella and Campylobacter, than would otherwise be the case.

The Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) are sponsoring a public meeting on January 19, 2016. The objective of the public meeting is to provide information and receive public comments on agenda items and draft United States (U.S.) positions to be discussed at the 37th Session of the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling (CCMAS) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), taking place in Budapest, Hungary, February 21-25, 2016. The Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety and the Food and Drug Administration recognize the importance of providing interested parties with the opportunity to obtain background information on the 37th Session of the CCMAS and to address items on the agenda.