Washington - The U.S. Agriculture Department said it would hold an October meeting on whether companies should be required to issue a press release to alert the public to recalls of potentially contaminated meat, poultry and eggs.
The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service said an internal panel would discuss its recommendations at an Oct. 5 public meeting in Washington, D.C.
A series of high-profile recalls have raised concern among consumer groups about the current procedure, which usually recovers only a tiny amount of products suspected of contamination. The USDA cannot order a meat or poultry company to recall product, but can threaten to close down a plant by withholding the federal inspection stamp.
Last year, Hudson Foods recalled a record 25 million lbs. of ground beef suspected of being tainted with the deadly bacteria E. coli 0157:H7.
In November, the FSIS created a working group to assess recall policies and recommend ways to improve communication with consumers, industry and state agencies.
The panel issued several recommendations, including holding companies responsible for issuing a news release when potentially contaminated products have been distributed to the public. A notice should be issued whenever it will help get the suspect products out of commerce, the working group said.
The group also suggested companies create a written plan for tracing any suspect product shipped to customers, and that the FSIS trace product back from the plant to the producer of the cattle, pigs or chicken.
The panel's recommendations did not address proposed legislation that would give the USDA mandatory recall authority. The bill, backed by the Clinton Administration, does not have bipartisan support in Congress and is not expected to be adopted.
The agency said it was seeking public comment on the following issues at the October meeting:
- How can FSIS or the affected plant best communicate with the consumer when it is necessary to do so? Is the press release the most effective means? When is a press release appropriate?
- How can FSIS ensure that when it sends notification of a recall to State agencies that that notification is sent to the appropriate agencies and reaches the appropriate person within those agencies?
- At what point should the agency consider a recall to be closed? Should FSIS keep the recall open if there is an ongoing criminal investigation of the event out of which the recall arose?
- Should the agency issue public information on proper cooking of meat, poultry, or egg products whenever there is a recall that involves one of these types of products that has been contaminated with a pathogen, even if the agency's public notification policy does not call for a news release about the recall?
- What should be the role of agency compliance officers in a recall? The Working Group's report calls for their role to be expanded. Is this appropriate?
Meat Industry Insights News Service
P.O. Box 553
Northport, NY 11768
Phone: 631-757-4010
Fax: 631-757-4060
E-mail: sflanagan@sprintmail.com
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