The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection (NACMPI) will meet January 16-17 according to a December 19 Federal Register notice.  The committee is being convened to review two topics for the agency: strengthening agency verification activities and guidance concerning sanitary dressing and antimicrobial interventions at veal slaughter operations.

FSIS test results show the percent positive for Shiga toxin-producing E. coli from trimmings and ground beef produced from veal are higher than trimmings and ground beef produced from other cattle slaughter classes. Regarding verification actions, FSIS said a review of criteria for categorizing the agency’s regulations is needed with respect to its public health regulations. FSIS has reviewed its criteria for identifying regulations that are most closely related to public health outcomes. FSIS is seeking input from NACMPI on the criteria and feedback on the proposed approach. The Federal Register notice is available here.