United States Increases Testing and Re-Inspection of Imported Meat and Poultry Products from Canada
November 6, 2007The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has instituted additional import requirements for meat and poultry products from Canada. Effective this week, FSIS will increase testing for salmonella, Listeria Monocytogenes and E. coli O157:H7 and will require that shipments be held until testing is complete and products are confirmed negative for these pathogens. In addition, Canadian meat and poultry products will receive increased levels of re-inspection by FSIS to confirm that they are eligible to enter commerce when presented at the U.S. border.
“FSIS will also immediately begin an audit of the Canadian food safety system that will focus on Ranchers Beef, Ltd. and will include other similar establishments that export beef to the U.S. Based on information provided by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), FSIS had previously identified this Canadian plant, which has ceased operations, as a likely source of the multi-state outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections linked to the Topps Meat Company,” said Dr. Richard Raymond, head of FSIS. “As the result of that recall investigation, FSIS delisted Ranchers Beef, Ltd., Canadian establishment number 630, on October 20, 2007. No product from that firm has been eligible to enter into the U.S. since that date.”
“The audit and stepped up actions at the border are being conducted because of concerns about testing practices at Ranchers Beef, Ltd. that were discovered as part of the ongoing investigation. FSIS will review the preliminary findings of this audit to determine whether there is need to continue these additional interim requirements. The FSIS team for this audit will include top officials from the Office of International Affairs and the Office of Program Evaluation, Enforcement and Review,” Raymond stated.
The measures are being taken to further ensure the equivalency of the system already in place. FSIS continue to work together with our food safety partners both domestically and internationally to ensure imported meat and poultry products are produced under systems at least equivalent to those in the United States.
Last Friday, FSIS Administrator Alfred Almanza and an additional senior FSIS food safety official met with their counterparts at the CFIA to inform them of increased testing and re-inspection requirements.
On Saturday, the FSIS announced that Cargill Meat Solutions Corp., a Wyalusing, Pa., firm, is voluntarily recalling approximately 1,084,384 pounds of ground beef products because they may be contaminated with E. coli 0157:H7. The ground beef products subject to recall were produced between Oct. 8 and Oct. 11, 2007, and were distributed to retail establishments nationwide. This recall follows another made by Cargill Meat on Oct. 6, 2007, where approximately 845,000 pounds of frozen ground beef patties were distributed to retail establishments, restaurants and institutions nationwide.
