Constituent Update - October 4, 2024

Constituent Update - October 4, 2024

FSIS Tips for Food Safety After Hurricane Helene

Floods and prolonged power outages after Hurricane Helene can jeopardize the safety of your food. It's important to take the proper steps to evaluate and discard certain foods after these events. To stay safe, be sure to follow these tips:

• Never taste a food to determine its safety!
• If your power has been out for several days, please throw away any food in your refrigerator and freezer. Reference our chart of what is safe or should be discarded after a prolonged power outage.
• Drink only bottled water or other beverages that have not been in contact with flood water. Screw caps are not waterproof, so discard any bottled water or other beverages that may have come in contact with flood water. If you don't have bottled water, learn how to safely boil or disinfect water.

• Discard any food that is not in a waterproof container if there is any chance it may have been in contact with flood water. Containers with screw caps, snap lids, pull tops and crimped caps are not waterproof.

• Undamaged, commercially prepared foods in all-metal cans and retort pouches such as flexible, shelf-stable juice or seafood pouches, can be saved by following the steps in the FSIS Consumer's Guide to Food Safety: Severe Storms and Hurricanes.

• Thoroughly wash all metal pans, utensils and ceramic dishes that came in contact with flood water with hot soapy water. Rinse, then sanitize, by boiling them in clean water or by immersing them for 15 minutes in a solution of one of tablespoon unscented, liquid chlorine bleach per gallon of drinking water.

• Discard wooden cutting boards, plastic utensils, baby bottle nipples and pacifiers that may have come in contact with flood water. These items cannot be saved after contact with flood water.

For questions about food safety, call the Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-674-6854, Monday - Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET (English or Spanish), email [email protected] or live chat at Ask USDA.

More information and resources regarding food safety during emergencies are available on the FSIS website:

• Toolkit with Talking Points, Social Media Messaging, Infographics, and more: Food Safety During Emergencies: Severe Storms, Power Outages, Floods and Fires
• Factsheet: A Consumer's Guide to Food Safety: Severe Storms and Hurricanes

For more information on what the federal government is doing to help those affected by Hurricane Helene or to seek assistance:

• What @DHSgov and @fema are doing to support: https://bit.ly/4eDNEHt
• What the U.S. Government is doing to support: https://bit.ly/3XXt2Vd

Other USDA Resources:

• USDA Disaster Resource Center
• USDA Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool
• USDA Disaster Assistance Programs Brochure
• Farm Service Agency (FSA) - Disaster Assistance: USDA Farm Service Agency offers a variety of programs to help farmers, ranchers, communities, and businesses that have been hard hit by natural disaster events.  
• Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) - Disaster Recovery Assistance: USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service provides disaster recovery assistance to farmers, ranchers, landowners and communities through a variety of USDA programs.  
• Rural Development Disaster Assistance
• USDA Rural Development Toolkit - Disaster Resiliency and Recovery Resources for Rural Communities
• Toolkit in Spanish linked below - 
• Desarrollo Rural del USDA Recursos de resistencia y recuperación en caso de desastres Una guía para las comunidades rurales
• Food & Nutrition Service (FNS) - Disaster Assistance: FNS coordinates with state, territory, tribal, and voluntary organizations to provide nutrition assistance to families and individuals affected by a disaster or emergency.  
• Guide: D-SNAP Resources for State Agencies and Partners - The following resources are meant to assist states in planning, operating, and reporting Disaster SNAPs (D-SNAPs). Many of these documents are also available in the Disaster SNAP Guidance Handbook and the D-SNAP Toolkit. States should work with their regional disaster coordinators, which can be found on the following FNS regional office page. 
• FSA Call center number: 1-877-508-8364

Update on FSIS H5N1 Sampling

On September 16, 2024, FSIS added H5N1 influenza A monitoring of muscle samples from culled dairy cows to its already robust national surveillance programs for pathogens and chemical contaminants. Samples are being tested by FSIS laboratory personnel for presence of Influenza A virus using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Carcasses are held by establishments pending results. FSIS will update the results of the H5N1 testing on this website every other Friday.

• As of October 1, 2024, FSIS has results from 26 muscle samples. No Influenza A has been detected in any of the samples.

This initiative builds upon the three separate studies USDA previously conducted.

ALP Announces New Microbiological Accreditation Opportunity

The Accredited Lab Program (ALP) is offering a new Aerobic Count accreditation. This new accreditation can be helpful with enhancing an establishment's microbial monitoring program that incorporates statistical process control monitoring methods. Applications for accreditation are now being accepted and qualification sets will be offered quarterly for acceptance into the program. The ALP will offer the first qualification sets beginning January 6, 2025. Future qualification and proficiency testing rounds will be listed on the ALP website under the estimated schedule.

The ALP is a voluntary fee-based program that provides establishments access to accredited laboratories that can perform reliable food safety testing services for the routine testing that establishments conduct to support their Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP)-based food safety systems.

FSIS Posts Quarterly Updates to Establishment-Specific Datasets

Today, FSIS updated the establishment-specific laboratory sampling datasets to increase transparency by adding additional variables and publishing in a format that is easier to use, model, and visualize. This change was announced in the August 2, 2024, Constituent Update.

FSIS released this dataset in an open, non-proprietary JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format, consistent with requirements set by the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018. The JSON file contains relevant data documentation in addition to the data, and guides that explain how to access JSON files using Excel are available on the FSIS website under the drop-down tab labeled "JSON File Guide." Data is broken out by fiscal year (FY), starting with data from FY 2014 (beginning on October 1, 2013) through the most recent FY and updated on a quarterly basis.

The following datasets are updated:

• Raw Poultry Product Sampling
• Egg Product Sampling
• Raw Beef Product Sampling
• Ready-to-Eat Product Sampling
• Siluriformes Product Sampling
• Raw Pork Product Sampling
• NARMS Cecal Sampling Data

In addition, FSIS updated the following Establishment-specific Datasets on Inspection Tasks:

• Livestock Humane Handling Inspection Tasks
• Poultry Good Commercial Practices Inspection Tasks

Available for Public Comment

FSIS seeks public comments on proposed rules and notices, which are viewable on the FSIS Federal Register & Rulemaking webpage. FSIS is currently seeking comments on the following:

• Until November 7, 2024: Salmonella Framework for Raw Poultry Products
• Until November 12, 2024: Availability of FSIS Guideline on Substantiating Animal-Raising or Environment-Related Labeling Claims
• Until November 12, 2024: Notice of Request to Renew an Approved Information Collection: Accredited Laboratories

Policy Update

FSIS notices and directives on public health and regulatory issues are available on the FSIS Policy webpage. The following policy update was recently issued:

FSIS Notice 40-24 - Federal Holidays in Calendar Year 2025

FSIS Notice 39-24 - Fiscal Year 2024 Quality Step Increase Instructions

FSIS Notice 38-24 - Cell-Cultured Meat and Poultry Products Sampling Program

FSIS Directive 4200.2- New Employee Onboarding - Revision 2

Export Requirements Update

The Library of Export Requirements has been updated for products for the following:

• Mexico
• Jamaica
• Dominican Republic
• Costa Rica
• Guatemala
• El Salvador
• Honduras
• Curacao
• Colombia
• India
• Ecuador
• New Zealand
• Barbados
• Dominica
• Kiribati
• European Union
• Canada
• French Polynesia (Tahiti)
• United Arab Emirates
• Nicaragua
• Hong Kong
• Japan
• Tunisia
• Qatar
• Solomon Islands
• Uruguay
• St. Lucia
• Turks & Caicos Islands
• Benin
• Vietnam

Complete information can be found at the FSIS Import & Export Library.

Last Updated: Oct 04, 2024