In 2020, there were 99 humane handling enforcement actions posted to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service website.

Food Safety and Inspection Service takes the decisions of mask usage out of the hands of federally inspected establishments.

Effective August 25, 2021, federally regulated establishments are required to follow the latest CDC guidance. 

A new piece of legislation was recently introduced in the House of Representatives and the Senate that will be a game changer for small processors. 

On Jan. 25, 2021, a coalition of food safety activist groups and individuals led by Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) petitioned the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to significantly change course on its approach to regulating Salmonella and Campylobacter.

2020 was quite the year for everyone, both on a personal and professional level. While we would like to put it behind us and return to the old normal, I think as an industry, we will continue to see lasting effects of the pandemic well into 2021.

For many years, I have closely tracked evolving U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) policy, the strengthening of USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) inspection and surveillance programs, the implementation of new technologies and the available data pertaining to the numbers of illness outbreaks and recalls.