Poultry processing plants that do not meet Salmonella control performance standards will have to conduct new follow-up sampling procedures beginning early next year, according to a notice from the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).

http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-image-raw-chickens-supermarket-image33900426In a Dec. 16 notice, FSIS announced the new follow-up protocol for testing, referred
Continue Reading Followup tests begin Jan. 13 at poultry plants failing standards

Dr. Elisabeth Hagen, Under Secretary of Food Safety for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, wrote a letter to Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) last week regarding DeLauro’s concerns over a reportedly problematic computer network used by USDA meat inspectors. The letter came as a response to an open letter DeLauro wrote
Continue Reading USDA's Hagen Addresses Rep. DeLauro on Inspector IT Network

A conversation with USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service Administrator Al Almanza on the agency’s recently-launched Public Health Information System, which centralizes plant inspection data and makes it accessible in real time.

Q: How is the Public Health Information System (PHIS) an advance over the old system?

A: This is
Continue Reading Q&A With Al Almanza: FSIS Redesigns Data System for Public Health