[Federal Register: August 3, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 148)]
[Notices]
[Page 44554-44556]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr03au05-45]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food Safety and Inspection Service
[Docket No. 05-027N]
Public Meeting on Advances in Pre-Harvest Reduction of Salmonella
in Poultry
AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection Service.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing
that it will hold a public meeting on Advances in Pre-Harvest Reduction
of Salmonella in Poultry on August 25 and August 26, 2005, in Athens,
GA. The
[[Page 44555]]
meeting will consist of presentations on research and practical
experiences aimed at reducing Salmonella at the poultry production
level, before poultry reaches federally inspected plants.
This meeting is the first in a series of public meetings that FSIS
intends to hold to discuss new approaches for strengthening food
safety.
DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for August 25, 2005, from 9 a.m.
to 5:30 p.m., and August 26, 2005, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at Richard B. Russell Research
Center, 950 College Station Rd., Athens, GA, 30605. A tentative agenda
will be available on the FSIS Web site at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/.
The official transcript of the meeting, when it becomes available, will
be available in the FSIS Docket Room, Room 102 Cotton Annex, 300 12th
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20250-3700.
FSIS welcomes comments on the topics to be discussed at the public
meeting. Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods:
Mail, including floppy disks or CD-ROM's, and hand- or
courier-delivered items: Send to Docket Clerk, U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service, 300 12th Street, SW.,
Room 102 Cotton Annex, Washington, DC 20250.
Electronic mail: fsis.regulationscomments@fsis.usda.gov.
All submissions received must include the Agency name and docket
number 05-027N.
All comments submitted in response to this notice, as well as the
official transcript, when it becomes available, will be available for
public inspection in the FSIS Docket Room at the address listed above
between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. The comments
also will be posted on the Agency's Web site at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations_&_policies/2005_Notices_Index/index.asp
.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Alice Thaler at (202) 690-2687.
Pre-registration is encouraged for this meeting. Participants who
are pre-registered will have building access badges prepared in advance
to facilitate their entry through security to the Richard B. Russell
Research Center. To pre-register, call (800) 485-4424. Persons
requiring a sign language interpreter or other special accommodations
should contact Sheila Johnson at (202) 690-6498, fax: (202) 690-6500,
or e-mail: Sheila.johnson@fsis.usda.gov as soon as possible.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The scientific community continues to work
with animal producers to investigate methods to reduce food safety
hazards at federally inspected meat and poultry establishments through
the use of specific production practices. A food safety hazard is
defined in 9 CFR 417 as any biological, chemical or physical property
that may cause a food to be unsafe for human consumption. FSIS' public
health mandate requires that the Agency consider hazards that could
arise during animal production as part of a comprehensive strategy to
prevent foodborne illness. Therefore, FSIS believes that a prudent
establishment will address food safety hazards on the farm, including
the use of animal production technologies and practices, as a means to
control and reduce pathogen hazards at slaughter. Although much has
been learned about the ecology of biological, chemical, and physical
hazards during animal production, there are, as yet, no specific
poultry production practices addressing biological hazards that
consistently and predictably lead to improvement in food safety.
Results are promising in some cases, but these avenues are still under
investigation.
A key point to recognize is that future hazard reduction
interventions will likely arise from those areas currently under
research or from new areas added to the research agenda. It is
important, therefore, for producers to be aware of the practices being
explored, so that they can provide input into the process and raise
concerns about (1) areas that are not under investigation, (2) the
economic impact of implementing new practices on the farm, and (3) the
impact of food safety hazards on the marketability of their products.
One food safety hazard that seems susceptible to attack through
interventions at the producer level is Salmonella. FSIS is looking at
Salmonella as a pathogen of concern because of the risks that it
presents for public health. Salmonella, a group of bacteria that can
cause diarrheal illness in humans, is the most frequently reported
cause of foodborne illness. Contaminated foods are often of animal
origin, such as beef, poultry, milk, or eggs, but all foods, including
vegetables, may become contaminated. FSIS Hazard Analysis and Critical
Control Point (HACCP) verification testing for all meat and poultry
product categories in calendar year 2003, the most recent year for
which FSIS has data, showed that the percentage of samples positive for
Salmonella was lower than the pre-HACCP baselines which were derived
from a statistical sampling of plants nationwide. However, based on
current regulatory verification samples in classes of poultry, the
percentage of samples positive for Salmonella in calendar year 2003
increased from calendar year 2002 for broilers, ground chicken, and
ground turkey. FSIS is concerned about the food safety hazard
associated with the increased percentage of positive regulatory
verification samples in these classes of poultry.\1\
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\1\ FSIS. Progress Report on Salmonella Testing of Raw Meat and
Poultry Products, 1998-2003. Available at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/PDF/Salmonella_Progress_Report_1998-2003.pdf
.
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To pursue initiatives related to production practices that will
result in lower, more controlled levels of Salmonella in and on birds
when they are offered for slaughter, FSIS is holding a public meting on
Advances in Pre-Harvest Reduction of Salmonella in Poultry. The meeting
has three goals.
The first goal is to determine whether interventions available to
producers can form the basis for best management practices to reduce
the load of Salmonella in poultry before slaughter. The second goal is
to identify promising interventions and to determine what steps need to
be taken to make these interventions to limit and control Salmonella
available at the poultry production level. The third goal is to
identify which research gaps with respect to Salmonella control at the
production level should be the focus of the research community,
including government, academia, and industry.
Based on the input from the meeting, and any other information
available to the Agency, FSIS will develop compliance guideline
materials for producers that address pre-harvest food safety issues and
Salmonella.
Additional Public Notification
Public awareness of all segments of rulemaking and policy
development is important. Consequently, in an effort to better ensure
that minorities, women, and persons with disabilities are aware of this
notice, FSIS will announce it on-line through the FSIS Web page located
at http://www.fsis.usda.gov. FSIS will also make copies of this Federal
Register publication available through the FSIS Constituent Update,
which is used to provide information regarding FSIS policies,
procedures, regulations, Federal Register Notices, FSIS public
meetings, recalls, and other types of information that could affect or
would be of interest to our constituents/stakeholders. The update is
communicated via Listserv, a free e-mail subscription service
consisting of
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industry, trade, and farm groups, consumer interest groups, allied
health professionals, scientific professionals, and other individuals
who have requested to be included. The update is also available on-line
through the FSIS Web page located at http://www.fsis.usda.gov. Through
Listserv and its Web page, FSIS is able to provide information to a
much broader, more diverse audience.
In addition, FSIS offers an electronic mail subscription service
that provides an automatic and customized notification when popular
pages are updated, including Federal Register publications and related
documents. This service is available at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/news_and_events/email_subscription/
and allows FSIS customers to sign up
for subscription options in eight categories. Options range from
recalls to export information to regulations, directives and notices.
Customers can add or delete subscriptions themselves and have the
option to protect their accounts with passwords.
Done in Washington, DC, on: August 1, 2005.
Barbara J. Masters,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 05-15428 Filed 8-2-05; 8:45 am]
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