In December, the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) issued Directive 8010.2, Revision 5, Investigative Methodology, which provides updated instructions to agency officials for conducting compliance investigations. Although the revised directive is not substantially different than the previous version, it does contain additional language regarding the use of photographs as an investigative technique. In addition to indicating that compliance officers may take photographs of product or conditions to be in violation of the Inspection Acts, the revised directive asserts that compliance officers may photograph “facilities, premises, inventory, equipment, or operations as a method or technique of conducting examinations and investigations to verify products are safe, wholesome, not adulterated, properly labeled, and that establishments are operating under sanitary conditions.”
The agency’s assertion it has the authority to take photographs at regulated establishments is nothing new. FSIS has maintained this position for quite some time. But the recent revision has caused many establishments to again question whether the agency truly has the authority to take photographs and what actions can be taken when there is a demand to take them.