- On July 25, 1996, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) issued a final rule to address the problem of harmful bacteria on raw meat and poultry products. Such bacteria include Listeria, Salmonella and Escherichia coli O157:H7, which killed 4 children and sickened 732 others in an infamous 1993 outbreak linked to undercooked beef patties at Jack in the Box restaurants in four western states.
- In an August 19, 2021 press release FSIS reflects on the 25 year old Pathogen Reduction (PR)/Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) final rule that upended “command-and-control” inspections of meat and poultry facilities under which FSIS had the responsibility of approving production decisions. As part of a broad overhaul of the FSIS regulatory program, the PR/HACCP rules made inspected facilities responsible for developing and implementing site- and product appropriate process control measures to achieve FSIS-established performance standards for pathogen reduction and control. FSIS attributes a reduction in pathogen contamination of meat and poultry, such as a 56% decrease in Salmonella contamination of broiler chicken carcasses, as cited in the press release, to changes brought about by HACCP including:
- A large scale-microbial testing program by FSIS that was developed to address the need for verification of companies’ HACCP plans; and
- Ongoing industry innovations to address the continuing need for food safety improvements.
- In September, FSIS is expected to further mark the 25th anniversary of the PR/HACCP final rule by taking a closer look at how the rules and regulations for HACCP were developed and the expanded role of the microbial testing laboratories.
