Performance Standards for the Production of Certain Meat and Poultry Products

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is amending the Federal meat and poultry products inspection regulations by converting into performance standards the regulations governing the production of cooked beef, roast beef, and cooked corned beef products, fully and partially cooked meat patties, and certain fully and partially cooked poultry products. Unlike the previous requirements for these products, which mandated step-by-step processing measures, the new performance standards spell out the objective level of food safety performance that establishments must meet, but allow establishments to develop and implement processing procedures customized to the nature and volume of their production. Establishments that do not wish to change their processing practices may continue following the previous requirements for these products, which will be disseminated as ``safe harbors'' in Agency guidance materials. Establishments that have not yet developed and implemented a HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) plan are required to develop and maintain on file a documented process schedule that has been approved by a process authority for safety and efficacy. The process schedule must include control, monitoring, verification, validation, and corrective action activities to be performed by the establishment during production. Establishments operating under HACCP are not required to develop a processing schedule. FSIS expects such establishments will develop and implement HACCP plans incorporating critical limits that achieve the new performance standards. FSIS is not making final the lethality performance standards proposed for ready-to-eat, uncured meat patties. Instead, FSIS will be proposing revised lethality performance standards for this product in a future, separate rulemaking.