Meat industry petitions to amend HACCP regulations

5/17/2000-The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service has received a petition from several meat and poultry trade associations to amend sections of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulations. The petition recommends that FSIS recognize prerequisite programs, such as good manufacturing practices, as components of the HACCP system. It suggests changing some definitions contained in the HACCP regulations such as "hazard," "hazard analysis," "severity," and "shipped." Furthermore, the petitioners request amending the regulations to provide that a HACCP system be found inadequate only when adulterated product has been shipped. The petition was signed by the American Meat Institute, American Association of Meat Processors, National Chicken Council, National Food Processors Association, National Meat Association, National Turkey Federation, and the North American Meat Processors. FSIS will accept comments from all interested persons. The text of the petition is printed in Tuesday's Federal Register notice which can be accessed through the FSIS website.