Food Safety and Inspection Service
Encyclopedia
The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture
(USDA), is the public health agency responsible for ensuring that the nation's commercial supply of meat
, poultry
, and egg
products is safe, wholesome, and correctly labeled and packaged. The FSIS draws its authority from the Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906, the Poultry Products Inspection Act of 1957
and the Egg Products Inspection Act of 1970.
Food products that are under the jurisdiction of the FSIS, and thus subject to inspection, are those that contain more than 3% meat or 2% poultry products, with several exceptions, and egg products (liquid, frozen or dried). Shell eggs, meat and poultry products that are not under the jurisdiction of the FSIS are under the jurisdiction of the United States Food and Drug Administration.
, and import establishments in the United States
. They verify the processing of tens of billions of pounds of meat and poultry, and billions of pounds of egg products. At slaughter establishments, inspectors perform antemortem inspections to prevent slaughter of diseased animals. Then, postmortem examinations are performed to identify diseased carcasses not evident antemortem. Regulations for rapid chilling, adequate trimming and sanitary washing are enforced to reduce microbial contamination. Samples are collected for residue testing to ensure antibiotic, pesticide and other residues are below regulatory limits. For cattle, tissue samples are tested for the presence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy
. In processing plants, procedures and formulations are monitored to insure HACCP requirements and standards of identity are met. Inspectors in egg plants primarily monitor pasteurization. In all plants, sanitation, net weight and accurate labeling (including nutrition information) regulations are enforced. FSIS also is responsible for products presented for import inspection at ports and borders, from countries that FSIS has determined to have inspection systems equivalent to Federal inspection systems.
Everyone in the food chain, from farmer through consumer, has a responsibility in keeping the food supply safe. Meat, poultry, and processed egg products can be contaminated with bacteria at any point during production, distribution, and consumption. FSIS works closely with other federal agencies that have some role in the regulation of meat, poultry, and processed egg products along the farm to table continuum.
As soon as FSIS learns that a meat or poultry product under its jurisdiction may be unsafe or mislabeled is in commerce, the agency forms a team to determine whether a recall is needed. The Recall Committee is composed of FSIS representatives from various areas of expertise. The committee evaluates all the information available and makes a recommendation to the establishment whose product is in question, including the parameters of the recall.
After a recall issued, FSIS conducts effectiveness checks to ensure that the company’s customers (or consignees) have received notice of the recall and are making every effort to retrieve and destroy the recalled product or return it to the recalling firm. FSIS personnel verify that the recalling firm has been diligent and successful in notifying and advising their consignees of the need to retrieve and control recalled product, and that the consignees have responded accordingly. FSIS has formal agreements with many state governments that allow those states to participate in effectiveness checks, thus improving the speed and effectiveness of recalls.
When a product is recalled, FSIS issues a recall release to the media in the affected area, sends it to public health partners and stakeholders and posts it on the FSIS Web site.
In certain situations where a recall is not warranted, but there is still a risk to public health, FSIS may issue a public health alert. PHAs have been issued when a product was not considered adulterated, but illnesses were involved; when illnesses were associated with a meat or poultry product, but a source of contamination was not identified; or a product is no longer available in commerce, but may be held or in use by consumers.
United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...
(USDA), is the public health agency responsible for ensuring that the nation's commercial supply of meat
Meat
Meat is animal flesh that is used as food. Most often, this means the skeletal muscle and associated fat and other tissues, but it may also describe other edible tissues such as organs and offal...
, poultry
Poultry
Poultry are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of producing eggs, meat, and/or feathers. These most typically are members of the superorder Galloanserae , especially the order Galliformes and the family Anatidae , commonly known as "waterfowl"...
, and egg
Egg (food)
Eggs are laid by females of many different species, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, and have probably been eaten by mankind for millennia. Bird and reptile eggs consist of a protective eggshell, albumen , and vitellus , contained within various thin membranes...
products is safe, wholesome, and correctly labeled and packaged. The FSIS draws its authority from the Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906, the Poultry Products Inspection Act of 1957
Poultry Products Inspection Act of 1957
The Poultry Products Inspection Act of 1957 requires USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service to inspect all domesticated birds when slaughtered and processed into products for human consumption. By regulation, FSIS has defined domesticated birds as chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, and guinea...
and the Egg Products Inspection Act of 1970.
Food products that are under the jurisdiction of the FSIS, and thus subject to inspection, are those that contain more than 3% meat or 2% poultry products, with several exceptions, and egg products (liquid, frozen or dried). Shell eggs, meat and poultry products that are not under the jurisdiction of the FSIS are under the jurisdiction of the United States Food and Drug Administration.
Overview
More than 7,800 FSIS inspection program personnel are assigned to about 6,200 Federal slaughter, food processingFood processing
Food processing is the set of methods and techniques used to transform raw ingredients into food or to transform food into other forms for consumption by humans or animals either in the home or by the food processing industry...
, and import establishments in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. They verify the processing of tens of billions of pounds of meat and poultry, and billions of pounds of egg products. At slaughter establishments, inspectors perform antemortem inspections to prevent slaughter of diseased animals. Then, postmortem examinations are performed to identify diseased carcasses not evident antemortem. Regulations for rapid chilling, adequate trimming and sanitary washing are enforced to reduce microbial contamination. Samples are collected for residue testing to ensure antibiotic, pesticide and other residues are below regulatory limits. For cattle, tissue samples are tested for the presence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy , commonly known as mad-cow disease, is a fatal neurodegenerative disease in cattle that causes a spongy degeneration in the brain and spinal cord. BSE has a long incubation period, about 30 months to 8 years, usually affecting adult cattle at a peak age onset of...
. In processing plants, procedures and formulations are monitored to insure HACCP requirements and standards of identity are met. Inspectors in egg plants primarily monitor pasteurization. In all plants, sanitation, net weight and accurate labeling (including nutrition information) regulations are enforced. FSIS also is responsible for products presented for import inspection at ports and borders, from countries that FSIS has determined to have inspection systems equivalent to Federal inspection systems.
Everyone in the food chain, from farmer through consumer, has a responsibility in keeping the food supply safe. Meat, poultry, and processed egg products can be contaminated with bacteria at any point during production, distribution, and consumption. FSIS works closely with other federal agencies that have some role in the regulation of meat, poultry, and processed egg products along the farm to table continuum.
Recalls
Recalls are voluntary actions by manufacturers, distributors or importers to protect the public by removing from commerce products that are adulterated or misbranded.As soon as FSIS learns that a meat or poultry product under its jurisdiction may be unsafe or mislabeled is in commerce, the agency forms a team to determine whether a recall is needed. The Recall Committee is composed of FSIS representatives from various areas of expertise. The committee evaluates all the information available and makes a recommendation to the establishment whose product is in question, including the parameters of the recall.
After a recall issued, FSIS conducts effectiveness checks to ensure that the company’s customers (or consignees) have received notice of the recall and are making every effort to retrieve and destroy the recalled product or return it to the recalling firm. FSIS personnel verify that the recalling firm has been diligent and successful in notifying and advising their consignees of the need to retrieve and control recalled product, and that the consignees have responded accordingly. FSIS has formal agreements with many state governments that allow those states to participate in effectiveness checks, thus improving the speed and effectiveness of recalls.
When a product is recalled, FSIS issues a recall release to the media in the affected area, sends it to public health partners and stakeholders and posts it on the FSIS Web site.
In certain situations where a recall is not warranted, but there is still a risk to public health, FSIS may issue a public health alert. PHAs have been issued when a product was not considered adulterated, but illnesses were involved; when illnesses were associated with a meat or poultry product, but a source of contamination was not identified; or a product is no longer available in commerce, but may be held or in use by consumers.
See also
- Food and Drug AdministrationFood and Drug AdministrationThe Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...
(FDA) - Centers for Disease Control and PreventionCenters for Disease Control and PreventionThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services headquartered in Druid Hills, unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, in Greater Atlanta...
(CDC) - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- Animal and Plant Health Inspection ServiceAnimal and Plant Health Inspection ServiceAnimal and Plant Health Inspection Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture responsible for protecting animal health, animal welfare, and plant health. APHIS is the lead agency for collaboration with other agencies to protect U.S. agriculture from invasive pests and...
(APHIS) - Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension ServiceCooperative State Research, Education, and Extension ServiceThe Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture , part of the executive branch of the federal government. The 1994 Department Reorganization Act, passed by Congress, created CSREES by combining the former Cooperative State...
(CSREES) - Food and Nutrition ServiceFood and Nutrition ServiceThe Food and Nutrition Service , an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture , was established on August 8, 1969. FNS is the federal agency responsible for administering the nation’s domestic nutrition assistance programs...
(FNS) - National Agricultural Library (NAL)
- Food and Nutrition Information Center (FNIC)
- Food Safety Information Center