Food Industry Regulatory Update January 14, 2022

In This Week’s Edition:

FDA Updates Procedures for Standardization of Retail Food Safety Inspection Personnel
Interstate Milk Shippers List
Interagency Food Safety Analytics Collaboration Announces Priorities for 2022–2023
USDA Requests Nominations of Members for Research, Specialty Crops and other Committees
FDA Revokes the Standard of Identity for French Dressing
Marler Clark Prods USDA for Interpretive Rule Related to Certain Salmonella Serotypes
FDA CORE Outbreak Investigation Status Update
FSIS Updates Lists of Foreign Establishments Eligible to Export to U.S.
FDA Import Alerts
FDA Warning Letters

FDA Updates Procedures for Standardization of Retail Food Safety Inspection Personnel

FDA has released an updated version of the Procedures for Standardization of Retail Food Safety Inspection Officers and the Standardization Field Workbook.

To reduce and prevent foodborne illness FDA provides the standardization of retail food inspection personnel procedures. This process provides regulatory personnel the opportunity to subject their knowledge and skills related to the FDA Food Code’s provisions to a uniform system of measurement.

Interstate Milk Shippers List

The IMS list is released quarterly and provides a list of Interstate milk shippers who have been certified by State milk sanitation authorities as having attained the milk sanitation compliance ratings. The list for January 2022 can be found here.

Interagency Food Safety Analytics Collaboration Announces Priorities for 2022–2023

The Interagency Food Safety Analytics Collaboration (IFSAC) — a collaboration between the CDC, FDA, FSIS — has published its priorities for calendar years 2022–2023.

Request for Nominations of Members for the NAREEE, SCC, CDS, NGRAC

USDA announces the opening of the solicitation for nominations to fill vacancies on the National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics (NAREEE) Advisory Board, Specialty Crop Committee (SCC), Citrus Disease Subcommittee (CDS), and National Genetic Resources Advisory Council (NGRAC) and its committees and subcommittees for Fiscal Year 2023 and any vacancies that may occur in the current fiscal year.

FDA Revokes the Standard of Identity for French Dressing

FDA is revoking the standard of identity for French dressing in response to a citizen petition from the Association for Dressings and Sauces. The petitioners shared information documenting that the standard is outdated. In December 2020, the agency issued a proposed rule and is now finalizing the rule based in part on its conclusion that revoking the standard will allow for greater innovation and more flexibility of products on the market.

Marler Clark Prods for Interpretive Rule Related to Certain Salmonella Serotypes

The Law Firm of Marler Clark submitted a letter to USDA dated December 24, 2021, prodding the agency to act on a petition the firm earlier submitted on behalf of Rick Schiller, Steven Romes, the Porter Family, Food & Water Watch, Consumer Federation of America, and Consumer Reports. The petition requests that FSIS issue an interpretive rule to declare certain Salmonella serotypes as adulterants in meat and poultry products

FDA CORE Outbreak Investigation Status Update

This week’s updates are:

A new outbreak of E. coli O121: H19 with an unidentified vehicle has been added. This outbreak does not appear to be ongoing, as the last illness onset occurred in November 2021. FDA has initiated traceback and other investigational activities in an effort to learn more about possible sources or routes of contamination.
The outbreak of Salmonella Javiana linked to 65 illnesses has ended. The information collected over the course of this investigation indicated cut cantaloupe was the likely source of this outbreak, however it appears that the products linked to outbreak illnesses are past shelf life and are no longer available for sale. The most recent illness occurred in November 2021. FDA’s outbreak investigation did not identify a specific product until after the product had expired and was no longer on the market, and there were no actionable steps for consumers to take to protect themselves.
For the outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 linked to spinach, the outbreak has ended, and the FDA investigation has closed. This incident was archived in the 2021 Investigation Table.

CORE Investigation Table