Almonds Grown in California; Revision of Outgoing Quality Control Requirements

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is adopting as a final rule, without change, an interim final rule that revised the outgoing quality control regulations issued under the California almond marketing order (order). The interim final rule revised the term "validation" under the Salmonella bacteria (Salmonella) treatment program by specifying that validation data must be both submitted to and accepted by the Almond Board of California's (Board) Technical Expert Review Panel (TERP) for all treatment equipment prior to its use under this program. The interim final rule was necessary to ensure that all treatment equipment meets a 4-log reduction of Salmonella in almonds.