Source: Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE, 2/7/19


USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has finalized a proposal, first presented last May, that removes the provision requiring that hog carcasses be cleaned before any incision is made preceding evisceration.

Other regulations require carcass cleaning, the maintenance of sanitary conditions, and the prevention of hazards reasonably likely to occur in the slaughter process, the agency said. Removing what it has deemed an unnecessary provision will “enable official establishments to adopt more efficient, effective procedures under other regulations to ensure that carcasses and parts are free of contamination, USDA said in the Federal Register notification.

The rule will be eliminated beginning April 8, 2019. The agency said it received nine comments in response to its proposal last May.

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