USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has announced a new policy requiring importers to maintain control of meat and poultry product tested for adulterants by FSIS and to not allow such products to enter commerce until negative test results have been received. The current practice has been to allow products tested for adulterants to bear the mark of inspection and to be sold in the open marketplace, even when test results have not been received.
The new policy, effective February 8, 2013, will cover:
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(a) Non-intact raw beef product or intact raw beef product intended for non-intact use that is tested for E. coli, 0157:H7, (b) any ready-to-eat product tested for Listeria monocytogenes, E. coli, of Salmonella, (c) ready-to-eat product that passed over food contact surfaces that have been tested for the presence of listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella, and (d) livestock carcasses subject to FSIS testing for veterinary drugs such as antibiotics, sulfonamides, or avermectins or the feed additive carbadox.
The policy will not cover raw meat or poultry products tested for Salmonella or other pathogens that FSIS has not designated as adulterants in those products.
