Dive Brief:
- USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has announced a new rule that aims to make it easier for the agency to identify the source of foodborne illnesses associated with ground beef.
- All makers of raw ground beef products will now be required to maintain adequate records of the source material. This can speed up the process for FSIS to act quickly when working with the suppliers to recall contaminated beef.
- FSIS believes this method of record-keeping will be able to stop foodborne illness outbreaks sooner after they are first reported.
Dive Insight:
In the past, FSIS's investigations of outbreaks have been slowed because retail stores often produce ground beef by mixing beef from more than one source without maintaining clear records to help investigators identify the exact supplier that produced the contaminated product.
"This is a common-sense step that can prevent foodborne illness and increase consumer confidence when they purchase ground beef," said Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety Al Almanza said in a statement. "In the event that unsafe product does make it into commerce, these new procedures will give us the information we need to act much more effectively to keep families across the country safe."
New food safety regulations have popped up this year with the FDA's finalization of preventive measures rules under FSMA in September, followed by three more rules in November: the produce safety rule, the foreign supplier verification programs (FSVP) rule, and the accredited third-party certification rule.
Recently, All American Meats recalled more than 167,000 pounds of ground beef nationwide due to possible E. coli contamination.