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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
January 15, 1999
The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is entering the second phase of implementation of the final rule on Pathogen Reduction and HACCP. On January 25, 1999, all small plants, defined as having 10 or more but fewer than 500 employees, must meet the requirements of the Pathogen Reduction; Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) Systems final rule. FSIS has prepared extensively for implementation by providing technical assistance to plants. Large plants, those with 500 or more employees, have been required to meet these requirements since January 1998. Implementation in large plants has been successful based on compliance data and data on the prevalence of Salmonella in certain products.
FSIS is the Agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture responsible for ensuring the safety, wholesomeness, and accurate labeling of meat, poultry, and egg products. On July 25, 1996, FSIS issued its landmark rule, Pathogen Reduction; Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) Systems. The rule addresses the serious problem of foodborne illness in the United States associated with meat and poultry products by focusing more attention on the prevention and reduction of microbial pathogens on raw products that can cause illness. It also clarifies the respective roles of government and industry in food safety. Industry is accountable for producing safe food. Government is responsible for setting appropriate food safety standards, maintaining vigorous inspection oversight to ensure those standards are met, and operating a strong enforcement program to, among other things, deal with plants that do not meet regulatory standards.
The Pathogen Reduction and HACCP rule: (1) ) requires all meat and poultry plants to develop and implement written standard operating procedures for sanitation (SSOPs), (2) requires meat and poultry slaughter plants to conduct microbial testing for generic E. coli to verify the adequacy of their process controls for the prevention of fecal contamination, (3) requires all meat and poultry plants to develop and implement a system of preventive controls, known as HACCP, to improve the safety of their products, and (4) sets pathogen reduction performance standards for Salmonella that slaughter plants and plants producing raw ground products must meet.
The requirements of the final rule are being phased in over several years. On January 27, 1997, all plants were required to have in place written standard operating procedures for sanitation, and slaughter plants were required to begin testing for generic E. coli. On January 26, 1998, all large plants, defined as having 500 or more employees, were required to have HACCP in place and to meet the performance standards for Salmonella. These requirements are effective in small plants, defined as having 10 or more but fewer than 500 employees, as of January 25, 1999. Implementation of the rule will be completed on January 25, 2000, when very small establishments, defined as having fewer than 10 employees or annual sales of less than $2.5 million, must also meet these requirements.
FSIS has prepared extensively for the implementation of the final rule in these smaller plants by providing extensive technical assistance. All plants, regardless of size, are required to implement HACCP, but acknowledging that small plants generally have fewer resources to draw on than do large plants, FSIS has carried out the following activities:
Additional assistance has been provided through the 18 FSIS District Offices around the country. Numerous industry associations and academic institutions also have responded by providing assistance and training to plants.
January 1999 is the one-year anniversary of HACCP implementation in large plants. Approximately 300 plants entered the program in January 1998, accounting for 75 percent of the volume of meat and poultry production in the United States. Implementation has been very smooth thanks to the efforts of both industry and government. Large plants had a 92 percent compliance rate with the HACCP requirements during the first three months of implementation, a 93 percent compliance rate during the second three months, and a 92 percent compliance rate during the third three months. Where a few problems did occur, enforcement actions were implemented and plants responded by modifying and strengthening their HACCP plans.
Preliminary data also indicate a reduction in the prevalence of Salmonella in large plants during the first 6 months of implementation. Testing indicates that Salmonella, found on 20 percent of broiler carcasses in baseline surveys before HACCP, was found on only 10.4 percent of carcasses after implementation. In swine, the percent of carcasses positive for Salmonella was 8.7 percent in baseline surveys and 5.5 percent under HACCP. Additional data will be available shortly.
Small plants, which cover a large spectrum of operations, must implement HACCP by January 25, 1999. A total of approximately 2,815 small plants must come under HACCP on this date. Of these, 2,681 are under Federal inspection, and 134 are under state inspection. (A separate handout provides numbers of small plants by State). With small plants added to the program, approximately 90 percent of meat and poultry production will be under HACCP on January 25, 1999. The final ten percent of production volume is produced by very small plants, which will come under the system in January 2000.
With more than 2,800 small plants required to implement HACCP in January 1999, the Agency anticipates an increasing number of calls to its HACCP hotline (1-800-233-3935). To respond to the needs and concerns of small plants and to continue to provide quality service, FSIS is doubling the number of technical experts who staff the Hotline. In addition, each District Office will continue to provide after-hours emergency contact numbers (24-hour, seven days a week phone coverage), and the Headquarters Office for Field Operations in Washington will continue to staff a toll-free number to provide round-the-clock assistance.
HACCP training for inspectors in small plants was begun earlier than it was for inspectors in large plants to provide more time for plant awareness activities prior to the implementation date. Plant awareness meetings are held between management and FSIS to allow plant owners and managers to make necessary changes to their HACCP plans before the implementation date. In addition, FSIS developed a specialized training program for frontline supervisors that better addresses HACCP.
FSIS inspectors have received extensive training for their roles in HACCP plants. Inspectors have the same authority under HACCP as under past inspection methods to ensure that the public receives a meat and poultry supply that is safe, wholesome and not adulterated or misbranded. The inspector will exercise the following regulatory oversight responsibilities:
The regulations being implemented focus on hazards within slaughter and processing plants. FSIS recognizes, however, that these measures must be part of a comprehensive food safety strategy that addresses hazards at other points in the farm-to-table chain. Thus, FSIS has broadened the scope of its food safety activities beyond slaughter and processing plants.
To improve food safety at the animal production and intermediate stages before the slaughter plant, FSIS is working with industry, academia, and other government agencies to develop and foster voluntary measures that can be taken on the farm and through distribution and marketing of animals to reduce food safety hazards. FSIS believes the voluntary application of food safety quality assurance programs based on HACCP principles can be useful in establishing risk reduction strategies, and many industry groups are implementing such programs.
Food safety during transportation, storage and retail sale also are important links in the food safety chain. In these areas, FSIS, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and State and local governments share authority for oversight of food products. FSIS and FDA are working together to develop standards governing the safety of foods during transportation and storage. In the retail area, FSIS and FDA are working with state officials through the Conference for Food Protection to ensure the adoption of uniform, science-based standards as part of the Food Code.
Even as progress is made in reducing contamination during these stages, it will remain critical that retail food handlers and consumers follow safe food handling practices. FSIS has augmented its food handler education efforts by expanding its collaboration with industry, other government agencies, consumer and public interest groups, educators, and the media to foster the effective delivery of food safety education and information.
For More Information:
For Further Information Contact:
FSIS Congressional and Public Affairs Staff
Phone: (202) 720-3897
Fax: (202) 720-5704
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