USDA proposes to amend egg products inspection regulations

The US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has proposed to amend egg products inspection regulations in order to make egg products more safer for consumption for people in the country.

As per the new proposed regulations, official plants that process egg products will be required to develop Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) systems and Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (Sanitation SOPs) in order to meet with other sanitation requirements consistent with the meat and poultry regulations.

Under the HACCP system, egg-producing plants will be allowed to develop a food safety system that is suitable for their facility and equipment.

FSIS proposed that eggs produced by the official plants should be free of detectable pathogens.

The regulatory authority has also proposed to eliminate certain provisions that are not consistent with meat and poultry regulations.

The proposed rule aims to modernise food safety inspection systems at egg products plants.

The plan to eliminate prescriptive regulations by the authority would enable egg products plants to innovate new means to achieve enhanced food safety.

USDA Food Safety acting deputy undersecretary Carmen Rottenberg said: “As we continue to modernise inspection systems and processes, we are committed to strengthening consistency across the services that FSIS inspection personnel carry out for the consuming public.

“This proposed rule will ensure the same level of inspection and oversight of all regulated products as we carry out our public health mission.”

FSIS also noted that it intends to further improve the safety of the US consumers by taking over jurisdiction of egg substitutes, which pose the same risk as egg products and will be treated with the same level of scrutiny and care.