Food Safety and Inspection Service
United States Department of Agriculture
Washington, D.C. 20250-3700

Pathogen Reduction/HACCP & HACCP Implementation

October 4, 1999

HACCP-Based Inspection Models Project

FSIS is pilot testing new models for inspection in plants that slaughter young, healthy animals where plants would assume more responsibility for process control at slaughter, under FSIS oversight and verification. Plants will be responsible for developing and implementing a HACCP plan to address those diseases and conditions related to food safety and to develop a process control plan to address those consumer protection concerns that are not related to food safety. FSIS will set performance standards for both categories and provide oversight and verification to ensure that the standards are met. This project is consistent with the HACCP philosophy, under which plants are responsible for producing safe food, and FSIS is responsible for setting standards and ensuring that they are met.

Plant Responsibilities

Revise HACCP plan to address diseases and conditions found at slaughter that are related to public health. Develop process control plan to address bruises and other conditions found at slaughter that are not related to food safety.
Once process control systems are in place, plants identify and remove carcasses and parts that are unacceptable because they are diseased or unwholesome.

FSIS Responsibilities

Set performance standards for food safety and other consumer protection activities that the plant must achieve through HACCP and other process control plans.
Provide oversight inspection and conduct verification inspection to ensure that performance standards are met.
Redeploy some in-plant inspectors to perform other food safety tasks within the plant, and to the transportation, storage, and retail segments of the farm-to-table chain to ensure that meat and poultry products remain safe as they move toward consumers.

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