Constituent Update - August 26, 2022
FSIS Revises and Expands the Accredited Laboratory Program
FSIS has finalized a rule that expands the scope of accreditations offered by its voluntary Accredited Laboratory Program (ALP) to include microbial pathogen testing and additional chemical residue testing under FSIS’s jurisdiction. The rule also revises the statistical method that the agency uses to evaluate the program’s laboratory proficiency testing from cumulative summation to more widely accepted standard deviation-based statistics. Laboratories must successfully pass the proficiency testing rounds throughout the year to maintain accreditation in the ALP.
The ALP is a voluntary fee-based program that provides establishments access to accredited laboratories that can perform reliable food safety testing services for the routine testing that establishments conduct to support their Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP)-based food safety systems. Prior to this final rule, under the ALP, FSIS accredited non-federal analytical chemistry laboratories to analyze meat and poultry food products for food chemistry and/or a small number of chemical residues. The program did not include microbial pathogen analyses. Establishments are not required to use the ALP.
FSIS laboratories will not be affected by this rule and will continue to operate and test food samples collected by FSIS inspectors in accordance with FSIS policies and regulations.
By expanding the ALP to cover more food safety testing options, the new rule will provide FSIS regulated establishments more options and flexibility when using ALP accredited laboratories for their routine food safety testing. In the first year of the program, FSIS is initially planning to offer proficiency testing to analyze meat, poultry, and egg products for Salmonella. Chemical residue testing will expand in the first year to include penicillin in beef tissues. As the ALP continues to expand, additional proficiency testing offerings will be listed on the FSIS’ ALP webpage.
FSIS Posts AAR Report for Salmonella Infantis Outbreak Linked to Chicken Products
The after-action review report for an investigation of a Salmonella Infantis outbreak during 2018 though 2019 is now available on the FSIS website. This investigation was conducted by public health officials in FSIS and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The outbreak was linked to chicken products from multiple producers across the U.S. Based on laboratory tests, multiple antimicrobial drug classes did not work for over 90% of Salmonella isolates found in sampled chicken products. FSIS and CDC met with industry frequently during this outbreak investigation to share information about trends in identification of Salmonella Infantis in FSIS establishments. No FSIS-regulated establishment was identified as a source of the outbreak because there was no definitive information about what chicken products ill people were exposed to or shopper purchase information available for traceback.
This outbreak highlighted the importance of increased and early communication with industry regarding outbreak surveillance and outbreak response. FSIS continues to (1) monitor Salmonella Infantis trends in isolates; (2) monitor antimicrobial resistance; and (3) communicate the findings with industry and federal partners.
FSIS outbreak investigation after action review reports are designed to share lessons learned with industry, public health partners, and consumers to help prevent illnesses and improve outbreak response. Additional reports and information about FSIS outbreak investigations are available on the FSIS website.
FSIS Posts Individual Category Status and Aggregate Results for Poultry Carcasses, Chicken Parts, and Comminuted Poultry Tested for Salmonella
On August 22, 2022, FSIS updated 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. Additionally, FSIS posted 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 Posts Revised Set of Laboratory Sampling Establishment-Specific Datasets
Today, FSIS published revised Laboratory Sampling Establishment-Specific Datasets to include Campylobacter species information that was inadvertently not included in the original posting.
As announced in the July 22, 2022, Constituent Update, FSIS published the expanded Laboratory Sampling Establishment-Specific Datasets with the FSIS Number — a unique identifier assigned to pathogen isolates that have been characterized using whole genome sequencing, or WGS — and allele codes with date stamps. The FSIS number update applies to sampling results for Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella, Campylobacter, and Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC). The allele codes with date stamps are only applied for Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella, and STEC.
Export Requirements Update
The Library of Export Requirements has been updated for products for the following:
- St. Lucia
- Turks & Caicos Islands
- Benin
- Mauritius
- Peru
- Honduras
- Nicaragua
- Guatemala
- Taiwan
- El Salvador
- Costa Rica
- Kazakhstan
- Kiribati
- Jordan
- United Arab Emirates
- Western Samoa (Samoa)
- French Polynesia (Tahiti)
- India
- China
- New Caledonia
- Hong Kong
- New Zealand
- Korea
- Dominican Republic
- Barbados
- Colombia
- Dominica
- Curacao
- Cuba
- Canada
- Singapore
Complete information can be found at the FSIS Import & Export Library.