Articles by Dennis R. Johnson

At presstime in late February, sequestration had become the No. 1 topic for the meat and poultry industry.

Periodically, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) will announce its expectation that establishments reassess their HACCP plans in addition to the annual reassessment expected by the regulations.

On Dec. 19, 2012, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) issued Notice 73-12 implementing changes in the agency’s two robust Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) sampling programs.

Regardless of your views on the recent election, maintaining the political status quo makes predicting next year’s changes in meat and poultry regulation easier.

It has been over a year since the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) declared six non-O157 STECs as adulterants on raw non-intact beef, and almost five months since the agency started testing beef trimmings for these pathogens.

On Aug. 14, 2012, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) issued Directive 5,000.6, “Performance of the Hazard Analysis Verification (HAV) Task."

It is an important fact of life that establishments conduct microbiological testing.

On May 7, 2012, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) posted a Federal Register Notice titled: “Traceback, Recall Procedures for Escherichia coli O157:H7 Positive Raw Beef Product, and Availability of Compliance Guidelines.”

On June 4, six non-O157 STECs (O26, O45, O103, O111, O121, O145) officially became per se adulterants in various raw beef products. On that date, FSIS began analyzing raw beef manufacturing trimmings for these six.

The focus by most of us this year has been on implementation of the Food Safety and Inspection Service’s (FSIS) non-O157 STEC sampling, currently scheduled to begin for beef trim on June 4th.