Source: Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE, 1/22/16

USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said in a notice to inspectors the agency will launch on Jan. 25 a year-long pilot project to assess whether retailers are using agency recommendations to control Listeria monocytogenes in retail delis.  

The nationwide pilot project will measure the status of retailers’ voluntary adoption of recommendations outlined in the FSIS Retail Lm Guideline. The agency will not perform sampling at retail. The Data Analysis Staff, Office of Data Integration and Food Protection, will analyze the results monthly, and the quarterly results will be posted on the FSIS Web site in a Constituent Update.

FSIS’s guideline gives specific recommendations that retailers can use in the deli area to control listeria contamination of RTE meat and poultry products.

The agency’s notice to inspectors provides instructions on how to complete the Ready-To-Eat (RTE) Retail Deli Tool, a questionnaire in the Public Health Information System (PHIS) that will help investigators compare the practices observed in retail delis to the FSIS guideline in the following areas: product handling, cleaning and sanitizing, facility and equipment controls, and employee practices. The notice also provides instructions to Investigators on how to conduct outreach at retail firms that slice or prepare deli products during their in-commerce surveillance activities.

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