As our readership is well aware, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) regulates the production of meat, poultry, and egg products.  To help achieve its enumerated food safety goals, FSIS works with industry to develop and promote best practices at slaughter that may be used to prevent, eliminate, or reduce levels of potential microbiological contamination of the food products subject to its jurisdiction.

On March 3, 2017, FSIS released an updated Compliance Guideline for Minimizing the Risk of Shiga Toxin-producing Escherichia Coli (STEC) and Salmonella in Beef (including Veal) Slaughter Operations.  The guideline seeks to assist regulated establishments that slaughter beef (including veal) to:

• Implement effective sanitary dressing procedures designed to prevent carcass contamination;
• Implement effective decontamination and antimicrobial interventions;
• Properly assess microbial testing results, including results for indicators of process control, at any point during slaughter; and
• Use the results from the implementation of these components of the food safety systems to assess the effectiveness of the overall HACCP system.

FSIS will be accepting comments on this guideline through May 2, 2017.