Source:  Dani Friedland, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 4/25/11

USDA announced interested parties have until June 21 to submit comments on proposed guidance for small and very small meat and poultry plants on safe production of ready to eat products.

The document contains information on regulatory requirements associated with safe production of these products with respect to Salmonella and other pathogens. It also provides information about processing and safe handling of RTE products after the lethality step, so they are not contaminated with pathogens such as Salmonella or Listeria monocytogenes (Lm).

Though guidance documents are recommendations rather than regulatory requirements and are revised as new information becomes available, FSIS encourages meat and poultry establishments to follow this guidance.

To file comments online go to www.regulations.gov.

Comments can be mailed to: Docket Clerk, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), FSIS, Room 2-2127, George Washington Carver Center, 5601 Sunnyside Avenue, Mailstop 5272, Beltsville MD 20705-5272.
All items submitted by mail or electronic mail must include the Agency name and docket number FSIS-2010-0026.

According to the Pathogen Reduction; Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point Systems final rule, a very small establishment is one that has fewer than 10 employees or less than $2.5 million in annual sales. A small establishment is one that has 10 or more but fewer than 500 employees.

For more stories, go to www.meatingplace.com.