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Food Safety and Inspection
Service United States Department of Agriculture Washington, D.C. 20250-3700 |
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Food Safety and Inspection
Service United States Department of Agriculture Washington, D.C. 20250-3700 |
Backgrounders/Key Facts
March 2000
Update on the HACCP-Based Inspection Models Project--In-Plant SlaughterFSIS has developed new inspection models for plants that slaughter young, healthy, and uniform animals and is testing the models in volunteer plants. The project is a natural extension of HACCP in all meat and poultry plants and will allow FSIS to better focus on public health concerns.
Currently, 24 plants are participating in the project—16 that slaughter young chickens, five that slaughter market hogs, and three that slaughter young turkeys. No beef plants are participating in the project at this time.
Under the project, FSIS has established performance standards for food safety and non-food safety conditions that plants must meet. In order to meet these standards, plants are extending their HACCP systems to address the food safety conditions and developing process control plans to address non-food safety conditions. Plants are responsible for identifying and removing carcasses that do not meet these standards.
FSIS inspectors conduct oversight inspection and verification inspection to ensure that plants are meeting regulatory requirements and are producing food that is safe for consumers.
FSIS has contracted with Research Triangle Institute, an independent consulting firm, to collect both microbiological and organoleptic (sight, smell, and touch) data as volunteer plants enter the project. The data document the accomplishments of the traditional inspection system. A report on baseline testing for 16 plants that slaughter young chickens was released at the Agency's March 30th public meeting. A complete set of baseline data for market hogs should be completed and released this spring.
Once each plant completes a transition to the new plant controls and slaughter inspection procedures, data are again collected to provide a "before and after" picture. The achievements of the new system must meet or exceed the achievements of the current system in order for FSIS to consider the new system successful. Data collection under the new models is underway in two plants that slaughter young chickens and two plants that slaughter market hogs and will begin in other plants as the project proceeds.
The project is being carried out through an open public process that allows all interested constituents the opportunity to provide input.
General inquiries on the models project and contact point for volunteer plants: Michael Grasso, special assistant, Office of Policy, Program Development, and Evaluation, (202) 205-0025
For Further Information Contact:
FSIS Congressional and Public Affairs Staff
Phone: (202) 720-3897
Fax: (202) 720-5704