[Federal Register: April 17, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 74)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 19713-19714]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr17ap01-1]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food Safety and Inspection Service
9 CFR Parts 381 and 441
[Docket No. 97-054FC]
RIN: 0583-AC26
Retained Water in Raw Meat and Poultry Products; Poultry Chilling
Requirements
AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Final rule; correction.
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SUMMARY: The Food Safety and Inspection Service is correcting errors in
a final rule, published in the Federal Register of January 9, 2001,
limiting the amount of retained water in raw meat and poultry products
and amending the poultry chilling requirements. The Agency made
inadvertent paragraph designation and other errors in the amended
regulatory text and in corresponding preamble references to the
regulatory amendments. One such error affected the regulation
preventing poultry with fecal contamination from entering the chiller.
The Agency is also adding a cross-reference to a provision on the
sources of ice and water used for chilling to ensure that the
regulations on this subject are read consistently.
EFFECTIVE DATE: January 9, 2002.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patricia F. Stolfa, Assistant Deputy
Administrator, Office of Policy, Program Development and Evaluation,
Food Safety and Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Washington DC 20250-3700; (202)205-0699.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The January 9, 2001, final rule amends the
FSIS regulations by limiting the amount of retained water in raw,
single-ingredient, meat and poultry products to the amount that is
unavoidable in achieving a food-safety purpose. The final rule requires
that affected products bear labeling that shows the amount of such
retained water. It also makes a number of technical changes in the
poultry chilling regulations that are intended to improve consistency
with the Pathogen Reduction/Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point
regulations, eliminate ``command-and-control'' features, and reflect
current technological capabilities.
In making changes in the poultry definitions and in the general
requirements for operations and procedures in poultry establishments (9
CFR 381.1(b), 381.65 and 381.66), FSIS inadvertently made some
paragraph designation and other errors in the amended regulatory text.
In the preamble, the Agency also made corresponding errors and
incorrect references to the amended regulatory text. FSIS is now
correcting these errors.
In the display of regulatory text, FSIS is correcting the
designation for the definition of ``ready-to-cook'' poultry in
Sec. 381.1(b). The definition should not have been designated as
paragraph (b)(44) because paragraph designations for individual
definitions have been removed (64 FR 745; January 6, 1999). FSIS is
making corresponding corrections to the preamble references to the
revised text.
In the preamble, FSIS incorrectly described a change that was made
in the poultry chilling requirements (9 CFR 381.66(c)(2)(i)). FSIS is
therefore correcting the preamble text explaining the Sec. 381.65 and
Sec. 381.66 revisions.
FSIS also is correcting the designation of the text of revised
Sec. 381.65(e), as it appears in the January 9 final rule, to paragraph
(f) and leaving undisturbed the text of Sec. 381.65(e) as it appears in
the Code of Federal Regulations. This paragraph, the requirement to
prevent poultry carcasses contaminated with fecal material from
entering the chilling tank in a poultry establishment, was not a
subject of the rulemaking on retained water.
Finally, FSIS is adding to Sec. 381.66(c)(1), on the use of ice and
water from potable sources, a cross-reference to the sanitation
regulations governing water use and reuse requirements for official
establishments (Sec. 416.2(g)). This change is being made to ensure
that the two sections of the regulations are read in a consistent
manner.
Additional Public Notification
Public awareness of all stages 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
final rule, FSIS will announce it and provide copies of this Federal
Register publication of this final rule correction in the weekly FSIS
Constituent Update. The FSIS Constituent Update is communicated via fax
to over 300 organizations and individuals. In addition, the update is
available on line through the FSIS web page located at ``http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.fsis.usda.gov.'' The update is used to provide information
regarding FSIS policies, procedures, regulations, Federal Register
notices, FSIS public meetings, recalls, and any other types of
information that could affect or would be of interest to the Agency's
constituents/stakeholders. The constituent fax list consists of
industry, trade, and farm groups, consumer interest groups, allied
health professionals, scientific professionals, and other individuals
who have requested to be included. Through these various channels, FSIS
is able to provide information to a much broader, more diverse
audience. For more information and to be added to the constituent fax
list, readers of this document may fax their requests to the
Congressional and Public Affairs Office, at (202) 720-5704.
Correction of Publication
Accordingly, the final rule published on January 9, 2001 (66 FR
1750) is corrected as follows:
1. On page 1762, in the first column, the term
``Sec. 381.1(b)(44)'' in the parentheses in the third sentence of the
first ``Response'' is corrected to read ``Sec. 381.1(b).''
2. On page 1764, in the first column, in the second to last
sentence in the first paragraph, the term ``9 CFR 381.1(b)(44)'' is
corrected to read ``9 CFR 381.1(b).''
3. On page 1764, in the second column, in the fourth line of the
first complete paragraph, the term ``paragraph (e)'' is corrected to
read ``paragraph (f).''
[[Page 19714]]
4. On page 1764, in the second column, the last complete sentence
in the column is corrected to read, ``New paragraph (c)(1) requires
that potable water be used for ice, except that water and ice used for
chilling may be reused in accordance with Sec. 416.2(g), and new
paragraph (c)(2)(i) requires that chilling equipment be operated in a
manner consistent with applicable pathogen reduction performance
standards and the establishment's HACCP plan.''
Sec. 381.1 [Corrected]
5. On page 1770, in the third column, in Sec. 381.1, paragraph (b)
is corrected by removing the paragraph designation ``(44)'' from the
definition for ready-to-cook poultry.
Sec. 381.65 [Corrected]
6. On page 1771, in the first column, in Sec. 381.65, paragraph (e)
is corrected and paragraph (f) is added, to read as follows:
* * * * *
(e) Poultry carcasses contaminated with visible fecal material
shall be prevented from entering the chilling tank.
(f) Detached ova may be collected for human food and handled only
in accordance with 9 CFR 590.44 and may leave the establishment only to
be moved to an official egg product processing plant for processing.
Ova from condemned carcasses must be condemned and treated as required
in Sec. 381.95.
Sec. 381.66 [Corrected]
7. On page 1771, in the second column, in Sec. 381.66, the first
sentence in paragraph (c)(1) is corrected to read as follows:
* * * * *
(c) * * *
(1) Only ice produced from potable water may be used for ice and
water chilling, except that water and ice used for chilling may be
reused in accordance with Sec. 416.2(g). * * *
Done at Washington, DC: April 12, 2001.
Thomas J. Billy,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 01-9495 Filed 4-16-01; 8:45 am]
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