Source:  Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 5/25/10

USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service said it is proposing changes to federal meat inspection regulations that would allow slaughterhouses to inflate carcasses and parts with air if they implement controls to ensure the procedure does not cause insanitary conditions or adulterate product.

In a notice posted Monday in the Federal Register, FSIS said it would require establishments to include such controls in their HACCP, SSOP or other prerequisite programs.

Additionally, FSIS is proposing to eliminate the requirement that plants submit requests for approval of air-inflation methods not listed in the regulations and to remove the approved methods. Establishments using approved procedures could continue to do so but would have to incorporate them into their HACCP, SSOP or other prerequisite programs, the agency said.

FSIS is looking for comments on the proposed rule by June 23. If the rule is made final, the agency will verify that establishments are complying.

"This proposed rule would provide establishments with more production options and would encourage the development of new technology without diminishing food safety," the agency states in the notice.

The proposal comes in response to a petition by JBS-Packerland, which sought to use air inflation to more efficiently separate brisket and round portions from beef carcasses. At FSIS' request, the company collected aerobic bacteria plate counts and submitted data showing no significant difference between carcasses injected or not injected with air, demonstrating that its method does not cause insanitary conditions or adulterate product.

The rule currently allows the FSIS administrator to temporarily waive speciic regulations to allow experimentation toward definite improvements. Packerland worked under such a waiver.

Background

FSIS's treatment of air inflation has evolved since 1970, when the practice was barred for fear of insanitary conditions and product adulteration. In 1989, the ban was modified to allow for field-tested and FSIS-accepted uses including using compressed air during dressing operations to facilitate head skinning and hide and hair removal. Meanwhile, operators that wanted to use unapproved procedures were required to submit to FSIS a request for experimental testing that ultimately could prompt the agency to include the new method.

In its 1989 final rule, FSIS explained its original reasoning behind banning air inflation, but determined that air-inflation procedures could be used in a sanitary manner without adulterating product and therefore approved their limited use. A year later, the agency allowed for the use of compressed air injected into the abdominal cavity of swine to facilitate skinning and minimize loss of body fat.

In early 2004, FSIS amended the rule to ban the use of compressed air injection into the skull of cattle in conjunction with a captive bolt stunner.

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