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FSIS Proposes Timeline for Risk-Based Inspection in Processing Plants
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Congressional and Public Affairs
(202) 720-9113
Steven Cohen
WASHINGTON, Feb. 22, 2007 — USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. Richard Raymond today
announced a timetable for introducing more robust risk-based inspection in processing plants, proposing
to begin in April with 30 locations representing about 254 establishments and potentially expanding to
approximately 150 locations by the end
of 2007.
To better protect public health, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) intends to better utilize
the information regularly collected by inspection program personnel at processing establishments to improve
food safety. By taking into account the relative risk of what each processing plant produces and how each
plant is controlling risk in its operations, FSIS will more effectively allocate inspection resources to
those processing plants needing it the most, while continuing daily inspection at all processing facilities.
The level of inspection at a processing plant will be based on a number of objective factors such as public
health related inspection noncompliances and FSIS microbiological testing results and will be updated each
month so that inspection resources can be adjusted as conditions change. This enhanced inspection system will
be more proactive in terms of preventing human illness and will yield greater confidence that meat, poultry and
egg products are safe. Risk-based inspection in processing establishments has benefited from the input and
expertise of all stakeholders during its development.
"To continue to prevent foodborne illness, we have to improve our prevention capabilities, not just respond
quickly after an outbreak occurs," Raymond said. "Our inspectors visit every one of these plants
every day and that won't change. What will change is we will no longer be treating every plant like every
other plant in terms of its adverse public health potential and we will start using the information and
the inspection expertise we already have in ways that better protect consumers."
Raymond noted that incorporating risk prevention more thoroughly into inspection activities has been an ongoing
process at FSIS, from the implementation of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) system in
1998 to the 2006 Salmonella reduction initiative.
Raymond said that gradually implementing risk-based
inspection will ensure that all aspects of the program can be thoroughly evaluated and revised as needed before
it is expanded nationwide. He added that the open and transparent process that has characterized the initiative
will continue with the scheduling of a series of technical briefings to discuss the use of production volume,
industry data, non-compliance records, expert elicitations and foodborne disease attribution data as part of a
more robust risk-based inspection system.
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Last Modified:
February 22, 2007 |
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