Food Safety and Inspection Service
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| Food Safety and Inspection Service | |
 Logo of the USDA |
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| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | March 14, 1977 |
| Headquarters | 1301 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. |
| Employees | 9,500 |
| Agency executives | Ron Hicks, Acting Deputy Under Secretary of the Office of Food Safety Alfred V. Almanza, Administrator Bryce Quick, Deputy Administrator |
| Parent agency | Department of Agriculture |
| Website | |
| www.fsis.usda.gov | |
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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. Authority is assigned under the Federal Meat Inpection Act of 1906, the Poultry Products Inspection Act of 1957 and the 1970 Egg Products Inspection Act. Food products that are amenable to inspection are those that contain more than 3% meat or 2% poultry products, with several exceptions [1], and egg products (liquid, frozen or dried). Shell eggs and meat and poultry products that are not amenable are under the jurisdiction of the Food and Drug Administration.
More than 7,800 FSIS inspection program personnel are assigned to about 6,200 Federal slaughter, food processing, 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 U.S. 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.
The vital services of FSIS have touched the lives of almost every citizen, every day in America. FSIS is accountable for protecting the lives and wellbeing of 295 million U.S. citizens and millions more around the world.
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[edit] 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. Individuals may sign up to receive an automatic e-mail notification sign up to receive an automatic email notification when the FSIS recalls Web page is updated.
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.
[edit] See also
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
[edit] Selected USDA Agencies
- Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
- Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES)
- Food and Nutrition Service (FNS)
- National Agricultural Library (NAL)
- Food and Nutrition Information Center (FNIC)
- Food Safety Information Center
[edit] State Government
- State Departments of Public Health and Agriculture
[edit] Partnerships
[edit] References
- ^ Food Standards and Labeling Policy Book
[edit] External links
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