Source: Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE, 4/22/14


USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has responded to comments it received relative to its HACCP Plan Reassessment for Not-Ready-To-Eat Comminuted Poultry Products and Related Agency Verification Procedures.

In its response notice, FSIS specifically addressed 22 comments from industry and consumer advocacy groups. Among others, those comments included:  
•      A turkey processor remarked that the agency’s definition for NRTE comminuted poultry is ''excessively broad.’’
•      A domestic chicken processor and several trade associations objected the HACCP plan reassessment for establishments producing NRTE comminuted chicken and turkey to take into account recent Salmonella outbreaks, saying FSIS failed to provide evidence in the notice that a food safety hazard has historically occurred or is reasonably likely to occur in the production of all NRTE comminuted poultry products.
•      There was a request that FSIS exempt from sampling and testing raw comminuted poultry and turkey source materials destined for high pressure processing (HPP).
•      A trade association recommended that FSIS require safe handling and cooking instructions on all domestic and exported NRTE comminuted poultry product labels.
•      Several consumer advocacy organizations asked how the agency intends to use its verification testing program to determine prevalence when, in April 2012, FSIS said it was not possible to estimate prevalence accurately by using its Salmonella verification data.
•      Many comments requested separate performance standards for NRTE mechanically separated versus ground products because of the differences in how each product category is produced, marketed and used.

To read the detailed FSIS responses to these and other comments, click here.