Program Design, Continued

• PR/HACCP Program: To verify that industry PR/HACCP systems are effective in controlling the contamination of raw meat and poultry products with pathogens, the PR/HACCP rule sets Salmonella performance standards that slaughter establishments and establishments that produce raw ground products should meet. The performance of establishments under federal inspection was assessed by having federal inspection personnel collect randomly selected product samples, and sending them to FSIS laboratories for Salmonella analysis. The PR-HACCP data presented here represents data from “A” sample sets. The results from follow-up testing resulting from failed “A” sample sets (that is, the results from subsequent “B” and “C” sets) are not included because they do not represent a random sampling of establishments. Data for large and small plants only are included for 1999; HACCP was not introduced in very small plants until 2000.