Constituent Update - January 17, 2025

Constituent Update - January 17, 2025

FSIS to Modify Procedures to More Accurately Sample Raw Poultry Establishments

To more accurately sample poultry establishments based on volume, FSIS is modifying its Salmonella sampling task assignment procedures to set sampling frequency based on monthly production volume (MPV) rather than daily production volume.

Currently, FSIS may sample establishments that produce a larger amount of product in a single day more frequently than establishments that produce smaller volumes over many production days, even when the establishment with lower daily volume produces more product overall. Poultry establishments that produce at least 1,000 pounds (lbs.) of product per day are currently eligible for verification sampling (81 FR 7289), and FSIS collects four or five samples per month (once per week) from the largest volume establishments to verify establishments are meeting Salmonella performance standards in raw poultry products (81 FR 7285).

The agency will continue to sample at this general frequency except under the new policy, establishments producing at least 1,000 lbs. per month are eligible for sampling, with those producing 1,000-20,000 lbs./month sampled randomly approximately twice per year.

FSIS intends to incorporate these changes into sampling assignments in Quarter 2 (January - March) of fiscal year 2025. Most establishments will experience no change in sampling frequency as a result of the new procedures. However, a few establishments producing less than 1,000 lbs. per day that were not previously assigned samples could now receive 1-2 tasks per year. These changes are reflected in the annual sampling plan.
FSIS is seeking comments on these changes. Please submit comments no later than February 16, 2025, to regulations.gov.

FSIS Announces Availability of Revised Guideline for Controlling Retained Water in Raw Meat and Poultry

FSIS is announcing updates to its guidance for controlling retained water in meat and poultry products. The Revised Guideline for Controlling Retained Water in Raw Meat and Poultry published in the Federal Register on January 17, 2025. The agency also responded to comments on the guidance.

On April 1, 2024, FSIS published the Revised Guideline for Controlling Retained Water to assist meat and poultry establishments in meeting the regulatory requirements concerning limits for water retained by raw, single-ingredient, meat and poultry products from post-evisceration processing, such as carcass washing and chilling. After review and consideration of comments the agency received on the guideline, FSIS updated the guidance and provided additional clarification on arithmetic errors in establishment Retained Water Protocol (RWP) reviews. In addition, FSIS provided additional information on how establishments may address statistical variability.

FSIS is encouraging establishments that have been using the previous version of the guideline to review the recommendations in the new guideline to ensure their data are reproducible and statistically verifiable. As previously announced, establishments will have until March 3, 2025, to submit their revised RWPs to the Risk Management and Innovations Staff via askFSIS for review. Establishments will have until January 1, 2026, to make any necessary label changes. The Office of Field Operations will start reviewing establishments' retained water protocols on October 1, 2025.

FSIS Posts the FY 2025 Annual Sampling Plan

FSIS has posted on its website the fiscal year (FY) 2025 Annual Sampling Plan. Sampling of product for microbiological contaminants or chemical residues is a key FSIS inspection verification activity, and each annual sampling plan identifies all current FSIS sampling programs. This continues FSIS' efforts to show the breadth of microbiological and chemical residue sampling data that will be generated to inform the agency's science-based and data-driven strategic planning efforts

More information on FSIS' sampling programs is available here.

Reminder: FSIS Announces Changes in Leadership Positions

FSIS has made several recent changes to its leadership team in the offices of Internal Affairs, International Coordination, and Planning, Analysis and Risk Management. Please visit the FSIS Programs & Offices webpage for more information about FSIS leadership.

Reminder: Deadline for Comment Period on Proposed Salmonella Framework for Raw Poultry Products

The comment period for the Salmonella Framework for Raw Poultry Products proposed rule and determination ends today, January 17, 2025. The framework was announced on July 29, 2024, and proposed the determination that raw chicken carcasses, chicken parts, comminuted chicken, and comminuted turkey products contaminated with certain Salmonella levels and serotypes are adulterated within the meaning of the Poultry Products Inspection Act.

Comments may be submitted online via the federal eRulemaking portal, available at www.regulations.gov; by mail sent to Docket Clerk, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Mailstop 3758, Washington, DC 20250-3700, or by hand or courier delivery to 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Jamie L. Whitten Building, Room 350-E, Washington, DC 20250-3700. All items submitted by mail or electronic mail must include the agency name and docket number FSIS-2023-0028.

FDA Seeks Public Comments on NARMS Strategic Plan

On January 10, 2025, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published a Federal Register notice to solicit public comments on the new (2026 -2030) NARMS Strategic Plan. The development of the plan will be discussed at the upcoming NARMS public meeting in Spring 2025. To help guide the input from interested parties, the notice includes specific questions and information requests. This notice can be accessed from FSIS' NARMS webpage. Information on how to submit comments is in the Federal Register notice.

NARMS is an interagency, collaborative partnership with USDA agencies, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the FDA, and state and local public health departments for monitoring changes in antimicrobial resistance in certain enteric/intestinal bacteria.

FSIS to Update Individual Category Status and Aggregate Results for Poultry Carcasses, Chicken Parts, and Comminuted Poultry Tested for Salmonella

On January 21, 2025, FSIS will update the individual establishment Salmonella performance standard category information for raw poultry carcasses, raw chicken parts, and comminuted poultry products on the Salmonella Verification Testing Program Monthly Posting page on the FSIS website. Additionally, FSIS will post the aggregate sampling results showing the number of establishments in categories 1, 2, or 3 for establishments producing young poultry carcasses, raw chicken parts, or not ready-to-eat (NRTE) comminuted poultry products at the location linked above.

FSIS Updates Import Presented Refused and Import Refusal Reason Datasets

Today, FSIS updated the Import Presented Refused and Import Refusal Reason datasets on the Import and Export Data page. The Import Presented Refused dataset includes lot-level information for import volume along with import refusal data at the lot-level and the Import Refusal Reason is provided as a secondary dataset, providing each refusal reason as its own row to facilitate analysis.

The Import Presented Refused and Import Refusal Reason datasets are updated monthly and will be posted the third Friday of each month, with data broken out by fiscal year (FY), starting with data from FY 2014 (starting on October 1, 2013) through the most recent FY. These datasets are released in an open, non-proprietary Comma-Separated Value (CSV) format. Instructions on how to open csv files using Excel are available on the FSIS website in the "Comma Separated Values Guide" section.

Available for Public Comment

FSIS seeks public comments on proposed rules and notices, which are viewable on the FSIS Federal Register & Rulemaking webpage. FSIS is currently seeking comments on the following:

• Until January 17, 2025: Salmonella Framework for Raw Poultry Products
• Until March 5, 2025: Food Date Labeling

Policy Update

FSIS notices and directives on public health and regulatory issues are available on the FSIS Policy webpage. The following policy update was recently issued:

FSIS Notice 02-25 - Updated - 2025 Mileage Reimbursement Rates

FSIS Notice 01-25 - Hearing Conservation Program and Annual Audiogram Procedures

FSIS Directive 10240.3 - FSIS Ready-To-Eat Sampling Programs - Revision 1

FSIS Directive 14010.1 - Siluriformes Sampling in Domestic Establishments - Revision 2

FSIS Directive 5000.1 - Verifying an Establishment's Food Safety System - Revision 8

Export Requirements Update

The Library of Export Requirements has been updated for products for the following:

• Vietnam
• Taiwan
• United Kingdom
• Ukraine
• European Union
• Colombia
• Guatemala
• Mexico
• Ecuador
• Turkey
• Azerbaijan
• Chile
• Dominican Republic
• Cuba
• Jamaica
• Canada
• Korea

Complete information can be found at the FSIS Import & Export Library.

Last Updated: Jan 17, 2025