USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) this week issued a public notice with updates and minor changes to FSIS Notice 75-11, on the Manufacture of Animal Food or Uninspected Articles at Official Establishments.
The notice provides instructions to inspection program personnel on the agency’s policy and their responsibilities in an official establishment that manufactures animal food or similar uninspected articles in the edible product department. Specifically, this notice addresses when inedible products may enter the edible product department for the manufacture of animal food or other uninspected articles.
According to the notice, animal food and other uninspected products may be manufactured in the same department as edible product, provided:
- There is sufficient space and adequate equipment allotted to the production of the uninspected articles not intended for human food, so that such production in no way interferes with the handling and preparation of edible product;
- Where necessary to avoid adulteration of inspected product, separate equipment is used for production of the uninspected articles not intended for human food;
- The preparation of the uninspected articles is subject to the same sanitary conditions that apply to operations in the edible product departments to avoid the creation of insanitary conditions in the edible product departments (9 CFR 416); and
- Such preparation in an official establishment is limited to the hours of operation under FSIS inspection supervision including during overtime.
Further information regarding inspection program personnel responsibilities is available here.
