In Product recalls – Part 1, we discussed the responsibilities the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) were tasked with in protecting the public from defective products and certain food products.
The USDA, on the other hand, is a Cabinet-level agency with a huge range of responsibilities, from overseeing the American farm industry, to helping farmers with price support subsidies to ensuring the safety of our foods. In addition to this, the agency is also tasked with seeking to expand overseas markets while supporting international economic development.
Besides all of the above, the USDA also provides the financing needed to create jobs; improve housing, utilities and infrastructure in rural America; and improve nutrition and health by providing food assistance and education. Some may say it is a wonder that this bloated federal agency is able to function, especially with all its various departments being so spread out nationally and globally.
The FSIS is using science to meet food safety challenges
Inside the USDA is the Food Safety Office. This office oversees the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS). The FSIS operates under the authority of the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act, and the Egg Products Inspection Act.
It’s up to the FSIS to set the standards for food safety, and it inspects and regulates all raw and processed meat and poultry products, and egg products sold in interstate commerce, including imported products. One of the positive moves made by the USDA was to implement a “zero tolerance policy” in March 2012 for contamination of meats by E coli strains, adding six additional strains to the policy that included E. coli O157:H7. They included E. coli O26, O45, O103, O111, O121, and O145.
In December 2012, the USDA implemented another program called the “test and hold” policy. Facilities are now required to hold products until microbiological testing can determine it is safe to release meat, poultry and egg products into commerce. The agency says this policy would have prevented the recall of 44 unsafe food products between 2007 and 2009.
The USDA has set up a modernized, comprehensive database that allows the agency to identify public health trends and food safety violations more effectively, and in using this system and working along with state health departments and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are making it easier to recognize and track food-borne pathogens.
What do FSIS inspectors do?
There are about 7,600 FSIS inspectors responsible for the inspection of over 6,500 privately owned meat, poultry, egg product, and other slaughtering or processing plants in the United States and U.S. Territories. The FSIS inspectors examine animals before and after slaughter, looking for diseased animals and also examining carcasses for visible defects. Tests are also run for pathogens, drugs, and chemical residues.
In addition to all the inspections, approximately 250,000 different processed meat products come under USDA inspection guidelines. They include hams, sausages, soups, stews, pizzas, frozen dinners, and products containing 2 percent or more cooked poultry or at least 3 percent raw meat. And as if this is not enough, the additives and compounds used to prepare and package meat and poultry products also comes under USDA regulations.
There are 155 active import locations in the country where food products from foreign countries who meet U.S. food safety regulations are reinspected again before being allowed into the U.S. Nearly 4 billion pounds of meat and poultry passed inspection for entry into the United States from 33 countries during 2001, according to the USDA.
USDA/FSIS food recalls
Just like recalls by the FDA, FSIS recalls are voluntary. The action is taken by the manufacturer or distributor of the products to ensure the safety of the public from food-borne illness. Often it is the FSIS that asks the company to initiate a recall. However, should a company refuse to order a recall, the FSIS, just like the FDA, has the legal authority to detain and seize those products in commerce.
Unsafe products are discovered in a number of ways. The company may inform the FSIS about a potential hazard, perhaps after hearing directly from consumers. Test results received by FSIS in a sampling program may show an unsafe or mislabeled product. FSIS field inspectors and program investigators, in the course of their routine duties, could discover unsafe or improperly labeled foods.
The fourth way of identifying unsafe food products is through epidemiological data submitted by State or local public health departments or other federal agencies, such as the FDA or the CDC. The FSIS and other federal agencies also work with the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), as was seen recently with the Dole packaged salads recall. But once an unsafe or mislabeled product is identified, the FSIS conducts a preliminary investigation to determine whether there is a need for a recall.
FSIS recall classifications
Again, much like the FDA recalls, the USDA/FSIS recalls are classified the same, depending on the potential danger the product could pose to the public.
Class I: A Class I recall involves a health hazard situation in which there is a reasonable probability that eating the food will cause health problems or death.
Class II: A Class II recall involves a potential health hazard situation in which there is a remote probability of adverse health consequences from eating the food.
Class III: A Class III recall involves a situation in which eating the food will not cause adverse health consequences.
Just because a recall may occur, it doesn’t mean that the FSIS or state and other federal agencies are finished with the company making the recall. After “effectiveness checks” have been conducted by FSIS inspectors, and the company has shown it has been successful in contacting its consignees and has made all reasonable efforts to retrieve and control products, the Agency notifies the firm that the recall is complete and no further action is expected.
Looking at a summary of recalls by the FSIS in 2014, there were 94 recalls, involving a total of 18,675,102 pounds of meat products.
“STEC” includes recalls due to Shiga-toxin-producing E. coli (STEC). STEC organisms include E. coli O157:H7, E. coli O26, E. coli O45, E. coli O103, E. coli O111, E. coli O121, and E. coli O145. “Other” includes producing products without inspection, failure to present for import inspection, and labeling issues, among others. The three stars after “poultry” indicate this number includes egg products.
