
Constituent Update - July 31, 2020
USDA and FDA Launch Joint Webinar on Cultured Animal Cell Food and Feed Products
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched a joint webinar to discuss roles and responsibilities for cultured animal cell food and feed products. During the webinar, experts provide information on USDA and FDA statutory authority, roles and responsibilities for cultured animal cell food and feed products, and regulatory points of contact for new food production technology. Interested stakeholders must register to view the pre-recorded webinar; the webinar will be available immediately after registration is completed.
The role of FSIS, along with FDA, is to ensure that regulatory oversight is in place so that food developers bring safe and properly labeled products to the market. In 2019, the FSIS and FDA established a formal agreement on how the agencies would use their regulatory tools to help ensure that foods comprising or containing cultured animal cells entering the U.S. market are safe and properly labeled. This agreement laid out which parts of the process each agency will oversee and was the first step toward both developing the framework to support safe production of these foods and providing clarity to industry on the requirements for producing, distributing, and selling these foods in the U.S.
FSIS and FDA have held public meetings to better understand the science of animal cell culture technology, potential hazards, labeling considerations, and to listen to consumer concerns. FSIS and FDA will continue their open communication and engagement with stakeholders to foster innovation while ensuring the safety of our Nation’s food supply.
To register for the pre-recorded webinar, go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LZS8N56.
For more information, please visit FSIS’ Foods Made with Cultured Animal Cells webpage.
FSIS to Host Webinar on Labeling Claims
FSIS will host a webinar to discuss animal raising claims and negative claims on labels to help industry understand the requirements and streamline the label submission process. The webinar will provide an overview on documentation needed to support animal raising claims made on meat or poultry products and will include a discussion about updates made to the Labeling Guideline on Documentation Needed to Substantiate Animal Raising Claims for Label Submissions posted in December 2019. FSIS updated the guideline in response to comments received on the previous version of the guideline posted in October 2016.
The webinar will also provide updated guidelines for factual statements concerning the non-use of bioengineered or genetically modified organisms. The December 2019 Labeling Guideline on Statements That Bioengineered or Genetically Modified Ingredients or Animal Feed Were Not Used in Meat, Poultry, or Egg Products includes changes made based on comments on the guideline posted in August 2016. The webinar will provide establishments submitting labels with these types of claims with information that will streamline the label approval process, which currently takes about 5-7 business days once a label application is submitted.
The webinar will be held on August 18 at 1:00 p.m. ET. To access the webinar, go to https://fsis-usda.webex.com/join/rosalyn.murphy-jenkins and follow the on-screen instructions. Use the following information when logging in: Meeting Number: 888-844-9904 Code: 2956126. For questions, contact Gianfranco Santaliz at 301-504-0878 or gianfranco.santaliz@usda.gov.
Additional guidelines on labeling and other topics are available at https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/regulatory-compliance/guidelines.
FSIS to Post Updated Quarterly Sampling Results
On July 31, 2020, 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.
The sampling results will be available at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/data-collection-and-reports/microbiology/sampling-project-results/results.
FSIS to Post Next Set of Establishment-Specific Datasets
FSIS is preparing to publish the next set of establishment-specific datasets as announced in the Federal Register on July 14, 2016 (Docket No. FSIS-2014-0032). Prior to publishing these datasets, FSIS is making sample datasets available. The next sample dataset and corresponding data documentation is for the volume of imported meat, poultry, and egg products presented for reinspection to FSIS at port of entry, and can be found on the Establishment-Specific Datasets: Laboratory Sampling Data web page at https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/data-collection-and-reports/data/datasets-laboratory-sampling.
Please visit https://www.regulations.gov/ and follow the online instructions for submitting comments to Docket FSIS-2014-0032 for this sample dataset and data documentation by September 18, 2020. FSIS intends to publish the final dataset on October 9, 2020. Additional details can be found in the FSIS Establishment-Specific Data Release Strategic Plan.
Policy Update
FSIS notices and directives on public health and regulatory issues are available at: https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/regulations. The following policy update was recently issued:
Docket No. FSIS-2020-0022 - Notice of Request for Revision of an Approved Information Collection (Salmonella Initiative Program)
Notice 38-20 - Completion of the Public Health Information System Establishment Profile Canning Questionnaire
Export Requirements Update
The Library of Export Requirements has been updated for the following countries:
- Chile
Complete information can be found at https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/international-affairs/exporting-products.