Tag Archives: FSIS

FSIS Publishes Updated Guidelines for “Non-GMO” Labeling Claims

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On December 30, 2019, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) published updated labeling guidelines on “Statements That Bioengineered or Genetically Modified Ingredients or Animal Feed Were Not Used in the Production of Meat, Poultry, or Egg Products.” The guidelines, which were originally announced in August 2016, outline the agency’s approach of approving labels containing “not-bioengineered,” “not genetically … Continue Reading

FDA Works to Find Source of Multi-State Outbreak of E. coli Infections

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On November 20, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in conjunction with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and several state agencies, announced that it is currently investigating an outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) O157:H7 infections that has so far impacted at least 17 people across 8 states. The first reported … Continue Reading

USDA, EPA, and FDA Aim to Reduce Food Waste Through New Partnership with the Food Waste Reduction Alliance

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As previously covered on this blog, food waste is a major issue in the United States. Government estimates indicate that Americans waste between 30 and 40 percent of the overall food supply on an annual basis. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), consumers are responsible for nearly 90 billion pounds of food waste … Continue Reading

FSIS Constituent Update on Availability of Food Defense Resources and Upcoming FDA Webinar on the Updated Food Defense Plan Builder

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The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) work jointly and with other federal agencies, as well as state, local, and tribal government agencies to develop and implement food defense strategies.  Food defense is the protection of food products from intentional contamination or adulteration intended to harm the public … Continue Reading

Amidst Regulatory Uncertainty, Cell-Based Meat Startups Form Coalition

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As previously reported on this blog, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have announced an agreement to share regulatory oversight over cell-based or cell-cultured meat. As part of the agreement, FDA will conduct premarket consultation to evaluate the manufacture of these products, including oversight of tissue collection, … Continue Reading

CSPI & Consumer Reports Petition to USDA on “Uncured” and “No Nitrate or Nitrite Added” Claims

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USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is responsible for monitoring the proper use and labeling of nitrates/nitrites by meat processors. Nitrate and/or nitrites have been historically used as synthetic curing agents to preserve fresh cut meats such as bacon. Meats are now more frequently prepared using celery powder and other non-synthetic sources of nitrates … Continue Reading

FSIS Publishes Tips for Label Application Submissions Amidst Evaluation Backlogs

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Meat, poultry, and egg product establishments are responsible for accurately labeling their products in conformance with regulations, guidance and policy enforced by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). FSIS has published a number of resources to help regulated entities navigate labeling requirements for FSIS-regulated products, including guidance documents … Continue Reading

USDA Removes Standard for “Jambalaya”

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On May 29, 2019, the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced in a letter that it will remove the entry for Jambalaya from the Food Standards and Labeling Policy Book (Policy Book).  The change came in response to a 2013 petition from Zatarain’s, a Louisiana-based food company owned by McCormick & Company, Inc., … Continue Reading

Proposed Legislation Would Lock-In USDA’s Oversight of Cell-Based Meat

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As we previously reported, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have issued a “Formal Agreement Between FDA and USDA Regarding Oversight of Human Food Produced Using Animal Cell Technology Derived from Cell Lines of USDA-amenable Species” (the press release can be … Continue Reading

USDA Pushes Back Against Washington Post Over New Swine Slaughter Inspection System

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On February 1, 2018, FSIS put forward a proposed rule to establish a voluntary, opt-in inspection system for market hog slaughter establishments, called the New Swine Slaughter Inspection System (NSIS). Under the proposed rule, hog slaughter plants may voluntarily join a new inspection system whereby establishment personnel would be responsible for sorting and removing unfit … Continue Reading

FSIS Issues Draft Guidance to Industry for Responding to Consumer Complaints

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is concerned with an increase in recent years in the number of recalls of meat and poultry products contaminated with foreign materials.  Notably, in many cases, the recalling establishments had received multiple customer complaints before these recalls.  Customer complaints for meat and poultry … Continue Reading

USDA and FDA Provide Additional Details on Joint Regulation of Cell-Cultured Meat

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As we previously reported, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in a November 16, 2018 joint press release, announced an agreement on joint regulation of cell-cultured meat.  Though the framework was not released at the time, the press release indicated that … Continue Reading

Enforcement Activity by the USDA Food Safety Inspection Service Against Imported Siluriformes (Catfish) for “Failure to Present” Violations

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  As reported here, the domestic and import inspection program for Siluriformes fish and fish products (including catfish) was transferred from FDA to USDA in response to a congressional mandate.  After September 1, 2017, only foreign countries that had submitted documentation showing the equivalence of their Siluriformes fish inspection system with that of the U.S. … Continue Reading

FSIS Announces Move from Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis to Whole Genome Sequencing for Analyzing Shiga Toxin-Producing E. coli (STEC) and Salmonella Isolates

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  Whole genome sequencing (WGS) determines the order of all of the DNA building blocks (nucleotides) in an organism’s entire genome in a single laboratory process.  A comparison of the DNA sequence of an isolated bacterial pathogen to the sequences from other samples in a DNA database can pinpoint the source of a foodborne disease … Continue Reading

New Report Reveals Sources of Foodborne Illnesses

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On November 9, 2018, the Interagency Food Safety Analytics Collaborations (IFSAC) released a report on foodborne illnesses caused by four pathogens. The data in the report, titled, “Foodborne illness source attribution estimates for 2016 for Salmonella, Escherichia coli O157, Listeria monocytogenes, and Campylobacter using multi-year outbreak surveillance data, United States,” came from 1,255 foodborne disease … Continue Reading

USDA Updates Poultry Line Speed Standards

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On August 21, 2014, USDA-FSIS published a final rule called the “Modernization of Poultry Slaughter Inspection” (79 FR 49566, Aug. 21, 2014) which amended the Agency’s poultry regulations to establish an inspection system for young chicken and turkey slaughter establishments, called the New Poultry Inspection System (NPIS). Under the final rule, the maximum line speed for young … Continue Reading

USDA and FDA Announce Joint Meeting on Animal Cell Culture Technology

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Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that they will hold a joint meeting on October 23-24, 2018, to discuss the use of cell culture technology to develop products derived from livestock and poultry. As we previously reported on this blog, FDA held a public meeting on … Continue Reading

Groups Petition FSIS to Change “Product of the USA” Policy

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The Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) and American Grassfed Association (AGA) have petitioned the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to change its standard for making a “Product of the USA” claim on meat and meat products. Currently, FSIS allows the statement “Product of USA” if either (1) the country to which the product is … Continue Reading

Trump Administration Proposes to Consolidate Food Safety Authority into One Agency

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In a June 21, 2017 document titled “Delivering Government Solutions in the 21st Century:  Reform Plan and Reorganization Recommendations,” the Trump Administration proposes to replace the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) with a single agency called the Federal Food Safety Agency.  If the recommendations were to be … Continue Reading
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