Food Industry Regulatory Update November 19, 2021

In This Week’s Edition:

USDA Secretary Vilsack Names Under Secretary of Food Safety Nominee
FSIS Posts Livestock Humane Handling Inspection Report
USDA Grain Inspection Advisory Committee to Hold Meeting December 15
USDA Consumer Advice on Thanksgiving Food Safety
FDA CORE Outbreak Investigation Status Update
FSIS Updates Lists of Foreign Establishments Eligible to Export to U.S.
FDA Import Alerts
FDA Warning Letters

USDA Secretary Vilsack Names Under Secretary of Food Safety Nominee

This week USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack released a statement stating his intention to nominate Jose Emilio Esteban, Ph.D. to serve as the under secretary for food safety.

FSIS Posts Livestock Humane Handling Inspection Report

FSIS has posted a report with livestock humane handling inspection data for FY2021. The report represents a yearly snapshot of humane handling activities at federally inspected establishments as recorded in the Public Health Information System and Data Warehouse.

The report includes:

The number of humane handling verification procedures performed
The number of administrative enforcement actions taken
Time spent on Humane Handling Activities Tracking System (HATS) activities
Comparisons of these measurements by plant size and FSIS district

USDA Grain Inspection Advisory Committee to Hold Meeting

The Grain Inspection Advisory Committee announced that it will be holding a meeting on December 15th in regards to the implementation of the U.S. Grain Standards Act.

USDA Consumer Advice on Thanksgiving Food Safety

As Americans celebrate Thanksgiving next week the USDA has released tips to help keep food safe and free of foodborne illness:

These tips include:

Clean and Sanitize
Avoid Cross-Contamination
Thaw the Turkey Safely
Cook Thoroughly
Stuffing your Turkey
The Two-Hour Rule
Leftovers

FDA CORE Outbreak Investigation Status Update

This week’s updates are:

There is a new outbreak of E. coli in Spinach listed in the table, which links to the Outbreak Advisory issued yesterday.
The outbreak advisory for Salmonella Oranienburg has been updated to 892 cases.

CORE Investigation Table