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Proponents, critics tackle proposed poultry inspection rule
Story Date: 3/22/2012
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Source: Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE, 3/22/12
Proponents and critics of the Food Safety and Inspection Service’s proposed rule that would change federal inspection of young chickens and turkeys questioned how the system would be implemented in order to result in safer product.
Industry representatives and consumer groups said Wednesday in a webinar held by the National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection (NACMPI) that they support the proposed rule’s more science-based approach, but they cautioned federal regulators to iron out the details before implementing.
FSIS’s rule would shift line inspectors’ focus to microbiological contamination from organoleptic defects affecting the marketability of poultry products. As opposed to two or more online inspectors sorting carcasses with visual defects, the new system would have one inspector conducting carcass-by-carcass inspections, leaving sorting to the companies and allowing other inspectors to monitor off-line pathogen reduction efforts.
The agency estimates the move will prevent more than 5,200 foodborne illnesses per year.
"Product that might be considered flawed will be found by FSIS inspectors inspecting carcasses, and the fact product will be sorted first by plant employees means that the amount of flawed product that gets through to our inspectors will be very low," a government source told Meatingplace following the webinar.
"Moreover, the Agency has proposed enhanced testing, both pre- and post-chill, to verify that the system is in fact working as designed.”
Concerns
Among the initial concerns, however, is whether FSIS data generated by a 15-year, controlled dress rehearsal in the HACCP-Based Inspection Models Project involving 20 chicken plants and five turkey facilities is enough to substantiate that the new rule indeed would provide a significant food safety benefit.
Sarah Klein, attorney for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, and members of the poultry processing industry agreed that the scope of FSIS’s proposal called for a phased-in approach. Klein suggested the first step be mandatory, standardized pre- and post-chill sampling to test for Salmonella and Campylobacter.
“The general framework in the proposed rule is too general to provide useful data,” she said. “[After establishing standardized testing] Then add elements of the new system — for example, company sorting and changes in line speed — and then determine how those impact contamination levels.”
FSIS Administrator Al Almanza clarified that the agency would do a phased-in approach, but by allowing a few plants at a time per district implement the new system “so we don’t overwhelm our ability to staff the inspection positions in those plants.”
John Tilden, Food Safety Planning and Response Program Manager for the Michigan Department of Agriculture, said, “I think there’s broad agreement that there’s a lot of value in FSIS verification activities happening off line and seeing more of that buttresses process control. The concern is if you do change [inspection procedures] all at once, it will take a better-designed implementation.”
The new rule would require processors at minimum include pre- and post-chill sampling to monitor for process control. It gives them the flexibility to develop their own sampling plans. They also can test for “appropriate” indicator organisms, though industry and consumer advocates alike urged FSIS to more clearly define those.
Some see the proposed rule as a pat on the industry's back.
“[G]iving industry ownership of their operations and processes is very encouraging. It’s very clear that USDA-FSIS has now recognized the efforts that the industry has made in reducing pathogens. The industry has worked so hard and we have succeeded in even exceeding the performance standards that FSIS has put out there,” Veneranda Gapud of Fieldale Farms said.
Comments on the proposed rule are due April 26.
For more stories, go to http://www.meatingplace.com/.
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