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FSIS is announcing the availability of an updated guideline that makes recommendations to strengthen the documentation that supports animal-raising and environment-related claims on meat or poultry product labeling. The Guideline on Substantiating Animal-Raising or Environment-Related Labeling Claims includes revisions informed by sampling data, petitions, public comments to those petitions and feedback received from a wide range of stakeholders. FSIS last updated its guideline on these claims in 2019.
The updated guideline will be open for public comment for 60 days after publishing in the Federal Register. For more information on how to comment, please view the Federal Register notice.
As announced in the August 16, 2024, Constituent Update, FSIS is hosting two webinars to share information about the science behind its Salmonella Framework for Raw Poultry Products proposed rule and determination to reduce Salmonella illnesses linked to raw poultry products. The webinars will be held on September 9, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. E.T. and September 10, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. E.T. The webinars will address topics such as findings from the NACMCF Subcommittee Report on Enhancing Salmonella Control in Poultry Products; the Salmonella Risk Profile, and the Salmonella in Poultry Risk Assessments; Statistical Process Control and the FSIS Proposed Lower Capability Process Index Statistical Measurement Model; and the FSIS Poultry Exploratory Sampling Program Report. Different topics will be covered each day, and the presentations will be recorded.
On April 1, 2024, FSIS published the Revised Guideline for Controlling Retained Water. FSIS announced a deadline of April 1, 2025, for establishments to make any necessary product label changes in response to policy clarified in the revised retained water guideline (89 FR 22331).
To provide members of industry with sufficient time to revise their retained water protocols and update their labels, FSIS has extended the following deadlines:
- Establishments are to submit their revised retained water protocols to the Risk Management and Innovations Staff by March 3, 2025.
- The Office of Field Operations will start verifying establishments meet regulatory requirements on October 1, 2025.
- Establishments will have until January 1, 2026, to make any labeling changes.
FSIS began the allergen verification sampling program on September 1, 2024, as announced in the July 26, 2024 Constituent Update and described in FSIS Directive 7,000.6. In response to questions from industry and FSIS personnel, FSIS is posting questions and answers for a few commonly asked questions. These questions and answers can be found here.
Additional questions may be submitted to askFSIS at askFSIS | Food Safety and Inspection Service (usda.gov) or by telephone at 1-800-233-3935. When submitting a question online, complete the web form and select Sampling as the Inquiry Type.
The National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection (NACMPI) will convene a virtual meeting on September 16 and 17, 2024, from 10-4 p.m. ET.
At the meeting, NACMPI will review and advise FSIS on whether the agency should change its definitions for establishment sizes to better assess and describe current business operations. The committee will also offer input on ways technology could enhance FSIS’ inspection activities.
There is no fee to register for the public meeting, but pre-registration is mandatory for participants attending. All attendees must register online. Attendees may indicate on their online registration if they wish to make an oral comment during the meeting. The Federal Register notice provides details on the meeting and guidance on submitting written comments. FSIS will post the meeting agenda on the FSIS Events & Meetings page in advance of the meeting.
FSIS is extending the comment period by 30 days for the Salmonella Framework for Raw Poultry Products proposed rule and determination, to more effectively reduce Salmonella illnesses linked to raw poultry. The comment period will now end on November 7, 2024. The proposal was published in the Federal Register on August 7, 2024. Industry associations requested the extension to review and consider the proposal and supporting documentation to formulate comments on these documents.
Starting November 4, 2024, all FSIS meat and poultry product export certificates for products exported to Mexico will be generated, issued and officially maintained in FSIS’ Public Health Information System (PHIS). This change excludes certificates for casings and egg products. The Mexico PHIS Industry Test Environment (ITE) is currently available for testing.
FSIS reminds industry Public Health Information System (PHIS) users that USDA has begun requiring them to add login.gov authentication to their existing eAuth accounts before they can log into PHIS. Please see the instructions in the PHIS Industry User Guide, section 2 (Overview of PHIS) to add login.gov authentication to existing eAuth accounts. The Industry PHIS Help page also includes tutorials on setting up login.gov accounts in the “Access to PHIS Tutorials” section.
FSIS Administrator Paul Kiecker attended the American Association of Meat Processors Convention in Omaha, NE
FSIS Administrator Paul Kiecker attended the American Association of Meat Processors Convention in Omaha, NE, on August 1–3, 2024. During the opening session, he highlighted several recent agency announcements, including the proposed Salmonella Framework for Raw Poultry Products and the final rule for the voluntary ‘Product of USA’ label claim. He encouraged attendees to submit comments on the proposed Salmonella Framework during the 90-day comment period, which closes on November 7. Administrator Kiecker also joined FSIS Front Line Supervisor Dr. Douglas Suntrup and Enforcement, Investigation, and Analysis Officer Nelly Horne at the FSIS booth to provide attendees with information about FSIS and answer questions.
PHIS Q&A
Question: I have had access to PHIS in the past but haven’t used it in the last couple of months. I’m now getting a message that says my account is inactive. How do I get access again?
Answer: If it’s been more than a couple of months since you’ve used PHIS, you can lose access to the system. After 90 days of non-use, your account will be inactivated, but sometimes it takes less time than that before losing access. Users listed with an Administrator responsibility in the Profile > Contacts page can try these steps to reactivate:
- First, go to https://phis.fsis.usda.gov/enrollment
- Put in your username and password
- Select Log in
- Select OPEN FSIS Dashboard
- You should be back at the home page of PHIS with all the roles you had previously
If this does not work, contact the administrator at your facility and ask them to provide access again by using their establishment or corporate administrator role, selecting User Management > Manage Users. Select the radio button on the right side for inactive, and on the right side of where the name comes up, select Open, then choose the “Activate” link. To provide immediate access to the facility again, the administrator should select Run PHIS Data Feed on the bottom right of the screen.
Visit PHIS Help for Industry for additional resources.
Knowledge Article
Undeclared allergens in a meat or poultry product result in a product recall or a public health alert if the product is no longer in commerce. A product is misbranded under the FMIA, PPIA or EPIA when it contains ingredients that are permitted but are not declared on product labeling. FSIS routinely conducts recall effectiveness checks to verify recalling firms notify their customers of the recall and that steps are taken to make certain that the product is no longer available to consumers. Visit our website for more information on recalls or to receive e-mail notification when recalls or public health alerts are issued.
Questions? Please submit them through askFSIS by filling out the web form on the FSIS website.
Visit AskUSDA.gov and include “askFSIS” in your search terms for more knowledge articles on this and other topics.
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