Food Safety and Inspection Service March 8, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing the availability of policy guidance for federally inspected establishments in the selection of commercial and private microbiological testing laboratories. FSIS has posted this policy guidance on its Web page https://www.fsis.usda.gov/Regulations_&_ Policies/Compliance_Guides_Index/index.asp#Micro. FSIS encourages establishments that prepare meat, poultry, or processed egg products to follow the criteria in the guidelines in selecting commercial or private microbiological testing laboratories and in determining their capability to provide accurate and reliable results. Regulated establishments are required to enter into commerce food products that are safe and not adulterated or misbranded. Establishments that select laboratories that do not apply appropriate testing methods or maintain effective Quality Control or Quality Assurance (QC/QA) practices may not receive reliable or useful test results from the laboratory and run the risk of producing food that is unsafe.