USDA proposes amendment to hog carcass cleaning regulation

The US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has put forward a new proposal to amend federal meat inspection regulations to remove a redundant regulatory requirement for hog slaughter establishments.

Under the new proposal, it is not mandatory for hog slaughter establishments to clean hog carcasses before incising, but they are required to have a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) to identify potential hazards, and the controls to prevent or reduce those hazards at specific points in the process.

Food Safety acting deputy undersecretary Carmen Rottenberg said: “It’s a practice of good government to regularly review regulations on the books, especially older ones, to ensure they are still relevant and achieving their intended purpose.

“Removing outdated and duplicative regulations, such as this one, will continue to be our focus as we seek to streamline our regulations and get them in line with HACCP principles.”

FSIS noted that it is mandatory for the establishments in the US to operate under HACCP regulations and apply HACCP principles, and therefore the command-and-control regulatory requirement would be redundant, as its objectives are covered in HACCP laws.

It is currently mandatory for hog slaughter establishments across the US to address hog carcass processing and associated hazards in order to avoid contamination of meat products prepared for human food. This regulation is no longer needed as other regulations mandate the sanitary handling and preparation of carcasses, organs and parts.

The new regulation also requires hog carcass cleaning to be done at a certain point in the process.

Under the proposal, FSIS inspectors will continue to verify if the establishment’s HACCP plans are implemented in the right manner and effective in controlling, reducing, or eliminating hazards at all control points in the production process.

FSIS has requested people to provide their views and comments on the proposal to remove the redundant regulation.