Almost 20 years ago, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) introduced a food safety program called Pathogen Reduction/Hazards Analysis and Critical Control Points (PR/HACCP) aimed at verifying the effectiveness of the food safety systems at meat and poultry facilities. That program, however, has at least two ongoing problems, according to a new report released today by the Consumer Federation of America, with support from the Pew Charitable Trusts. First, plants have too often failed to develop effective food safety plans, and USDA has failed to adequately identify problems in those plants, the report says. Second, plants do not face severe enough consequences for reoccurring food safety violations. The report includes six recommendations for FSIS:
Develop a better way to evaluate plants’ HACCP plans.
Require plants to identify pathogens most commonly associated with particular meat and poultry products and address them in their HACCP plans.
Establish clear procedures and repercussions for reoccurring violations.
Frequently and routinely update performance standards that are based on improving public health.
Seek authority from Congress to set and enforce performance standards for pathogen reduction.
Improve sampling programs to target riskiest facilities and products.
The News Desk team at Food Safety News covers breaking developments, regulatory updates, recalls, and key topics shaping food safety today. These articles are produced collaboratively by our editorial staff.
As part of its enforcement activities, the Food and Drug Administration sends warning letters to entities under its jurisdiction. Some letters are not posted for public view until weeks or
The health risk posed by meat processed by a company under investigation in the Netherlands is “negligible,” according to an assessment.
The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA)
The Food and Drug Administration uses import alerts to enforce U.S. food safety regulations for food from foreign countries. The agency updates and modifies the alerts as needed.
Recent
As part of its enforcement activities, the Food and Drug Administration sends warning letters to entities under its jurisdiction. Some letters are not posted for public view until weeks or
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is alerting the public to a significant increase in Salmonella cases and asking people to be aware of the symptoms.
As of
The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is issuing a public health alert for a Steak, Cilantro, Lime Burrito product because of misbranding and an undeclared allergen.
Lidl US is recalling all units of Eridanous Shortbread Cookies with Chocolate Truffle Coating & Apricot Filling in 11.6-ounce boxes with the UPC number 4056489125839 with foreign language
