In January 1999, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) published Appendix A: Compliance Guidelines for Meeting Lethality Performance Standards for Certain Meat and Poultry Products. The compliance guidelines contained certain time/temperature combinations that, if followed precisely, were validated as effective process schedules to achieve lethality. Since that time, the industry has utilized Appendix A in the production of safe and wholesome meat and poultry products.
After 18 years, FSIS has updated Appendix A and other agency guidance on ensuring compliance to the Lethality Performance Standards for certain meat and products. These updated guidance documents have been combined into one document, FSIS Salmonella Compliance Guideline for Small and Very Small Meat and Poultry Established that Produce Ready-to-Eat (RTE) Products and Revised Appendix A (Salmonella Compliance Guideline) and replaces previous versions of Appendix A and other guidance documents. The draft compliance guideline was made available on June 15 and the comment period ended on Aug. 15.