06.04.2011

The U.S. Department of Agriculture moved toward mandating test-and-hold in the meat and poultry industry, a policy change aimed at reducing the amount of unsafe food that reaches grocery stores.

The proposed requirement would allow USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to hold meat and poultry products, keeping them out of commerce, until FSIS test results for "harmful substances" -- like pathogens or drug residues -- are received. The current policy does not require companies to hold onto product while test results are pending. The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) said 44 meat and poultry product recalls were prompted by FSIS tests that revealed Escherichia coli O157:H7 or Listeria monocytogenes from 2007 through 2009. On the basis of those findings, the agency estimates that the test-and-hold rule would save up to $46 million per year.

The test-and-hold rule would cover raw beef tested for E coli O157:H7 and ready-to-eat meat and poultry products tested for E coli, Listeria, and Salmonella. It would not cover raw meat or poultry products tested for Salmonella or other pathogens that are not classified as adulterants in those products.

The policy also would cover livestock carcasses that are tested for certain veterinary-drug residues, including antibiotic residues. But it would not apply to poultry tested for such residues, because they have not been a problem and the rule would be costly for processors, the agency said.

The proposed policy requirement will be available here.