FSIS Expands Testing for Pesticides 

The FSIS Chemistry Laboratory Guidebook method, “Screening for Pesticides by LC/MS/MS and GC/MS/MS,” has been updated. The method detects 108 different pesticides in the muscle tissue of beef, pork, poultry, sheep, goat, horse, catfish and now includes liquid and powdered egg products. The method will be available at https://www.fsis.usda.gov/news-events/publications/chemistry-laboratory-guidebook. The Agency will begin using this method after Feb. 26, 2018.

FSIS Posts Updated Quarterly Sampling Results

On Jan. 31, 2018, the sampling results for FSIS regulated products will be updated on the FSIS website. Quarterly FSIS calculates prevalence, volume weighted percent positive or percent positive calculations for microbial pathogens in FSIS regulated products that are currently sampled through existing sampling projects using the prior 12 months of sampling data. Sampling results are available for raw beef, raw pork, raw chicken, raw turkey, processed eggs and ready-to-eat products. For more information visit: https://www.fsis.usda.gov/science-data/data-sets-visualizations/microbiology.

Materials from Foodborne Illness Source Attribution Webinar Now Available

The Interagency Food Safety Analytics Collaboration (IFSAC) has released materials from a webinar held on Dec.15, 2017 about a report on Foodborne Illness Source Attribution Estimates for 2013. The webinar materials, including the presentation slides, transcript and a link to the recording are now available.

IFSAC was created in 2011 by three federal agencies—the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and FSIS—to improve coordination of federal food safety analytic efforts and address cross-cutting priorities for food safety data collection, analysis and use. Its projects and studies aim to identify foods that are important sources of human illness. IFSAC focuses analytic efforts on four priority pathogens: Salmonella, E. coli O157, Listeria monocytogenes and Campylobacter. By bringing together data from CDC, FDA and FSIS, and by developing sound analytical methods, IFSAC scientists are improving estimates of the sources of foodborne illness. For more information, visit IFSAC‘s website at: https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/ifsac/index.html or via e-mail at IFSAC@fda.hhs.gov.

Policy Updates

FSIS notices and directives on public health and regulatory issues are available at: https://www.fsis.usda.gov/policy/directives-notices.The following policy updates were recently issued:

• Notice 06-18 - Additional Information Regarding Instructional Labeling Statements for Raw Beef Products Shipped to Intermediary Official Establishments Prior to Delivery to an Official Establishment for Full Lethality Treatment to Address Shiga Toxin-Producing E. coli (STEC)
• Notice 07-18 - Completion of the Public Health Information System Plant Profile Foreign Country Export Questionnaire

Export Requirements Updates

The Library of Export Requirements has been updated for the following countries:

• Japan
• South Africa
• Taiwan

For a complete list of countries, visit https://www.fsis.usda.gov/inspection/import-export.