USDA Finalizes Rule on Ground Beef Record Keeping

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TOPIC: USDA Finalizes Rule on Ground Beef Record Keeping

Bill_meatcutter

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Date: Dec 26, 2015

USDA Finalizes Rule on Ground Beef Record Keeping

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USDA Finalizes Rule on Ground Beef Record Keeping

This week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) issued their Final Rule amending record-keeping requirements for official establishments and retailers who grind their own beef. The intent of the rule is to make it easier and quicker to track foodborne illnesses to their source, according to the USDA.

Here's what you need to know about this rule:

It applies to all official establishments (any establishment where inspection is maintained following regulations for slaughter of meat or poultry animals or processing of meat or poultry food products) and retail stores that grind raw beef products for sale to consumers.
It requires that records be kept at the place where beef is ground, and if there are multiple locations, records may be kept at a headquarters' office.
It requires records are kept on (see sample log below):

The establishment numbers of establishments supplying material used to prepare each lot of raw ground beef product
All supplier lot numbers and production dates
The names of the supplied materials, including beef components and any materials carried over from one production lot to the next
The date and time each lot of raw ground beef product is produced
The date and time when grinding equipment and other related food-contact surfaces are cleaned and sanitized

What is not included in the Final Rule ( different from the 2014 Proposed Rule):

Establishments and retail stores will not have to maintain records concerning the weight of each source component
The Agency is not requiring establishments to maintain records of the names, point of contact, and phone numbers of each official establishment
The Agency shortened the record keeping retention time from three years to one year after the date of the recorded grinding activity

It will go into effect 180 days (6 months) from the date it is published in the Federal Register. The Rule has not been published yet, but if it is published in the near future, it will go into effect late June/early July.

The beef industry is committed to providing safe, wholesome beef to consumers. For more information about the Final Rule, including implications for your business, please contact FSIS directly via Dr. Daniel Engeljohn, Assistant Administrator, Office of Policy and Program Development, Food Safety and Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

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