[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 61 (Thursday, March 30, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Page 16428]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-7724]
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Notices
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings,
delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are examples of documents
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Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 61 / Thursday, March 30, 1995 /
Notices
[[Page 16428]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
[Docket No. PY-95-001]
Tentative Voluntary Poultry Grade Standards
AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is announcing that it
is approving the test marketing of USDA grade identified boneless/
skinless poultry legs and drumsticks, based on tentative grade
standards.
DATES: This test-market period begins March 30, 1995 and ends April 1,
1996.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Larry W. Robinson, Chief, Grading
Branch, Poultry Division, 202-720-3271.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Poultry grading is a voluntary program provided under the
Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946, as amended, and is offered on a
fee-for-service basis. It is designed to assist the orderly marketing
of poultry products. Quality in practical terms refers to the
usability, desirability, and value of a product, as well as its
marketability. Poultry grade standards identify and measure degrees of
quality in poultry products. They permit important quality attributes
to be evaluated uniformly and accurately; they provide a way for buyers
and sellers to negotiate using a common language.
Once poultry has been graded according to these standards, it may
be identified with the USDA grademark. Over the years, processors have
found it advantageous to market grade-identified poultry products and
consumers have come to rely on the USDA grademark as assurance that
they are getting the quality they want.
Poultry producers and processors are continually developing new,
innovative products. Chicken and turkey, in particular, have been
transformed into a myriad of boneless and/or skinless products,
increasing poultry's share of the consumer's food dollar and responding
to consumer demand for food with more built-in convenience and less
fat. Current regulations (7 CFR Part 70) provide grade standards for
boneless poultry breasts, thighs, and tenderloins (Sec. 70.231), as
well as for skinless carcasses and parts (Sec. 70.232).
The Agency has received several industry requests to permit the
grade identification of boneless/skinless poultry legs and drumsticks.
These products are currently being marketed ungraded because there are
no grade standards for them. The Agency has worked with members of the
industry to develop tentative grade standards which will result in a
high-quality product. The Agency is ready to move forward to a test
marketing phase for boneless/skinless poultry legs and drumsticks.
The Agency recognizes that before new standards of quality can be
established or current standards of quality can be amended, appropriate
investigation is needed. This includes the test marketing of
experimental packs of grade-identified poultry products to determine
production requirements and consumer acceptance, and to permit the
collection of other necessary data. Current regulations (Sec. 70.3)
provide the Agency with the flexibility needed to permit such
experimentation, so that new procedures and grading techniques may be
tested.
The Agency is granting permission for the test marketing of grade-
identified boneless/skinless poultry legs and drumsticks based on
tentative standards for one year. At the expiration of this one-year
period, the Agency will then evaluate the test results to determine if
the current poultry grading regulations should be amended, through
notice-and-comment rulemaking, to include the following tentative
standards.
Tentative Poultry Grade Standards for Boneless/Skinless Poultry Legs
and Drumsticks--A Quality
1. The leg or drum shall be cut as specified in Sec. 70.210(e)(6).
2. The skin and bones shall be removed in a neat manner, without
undue mutilation of adjacent muscle.
3. Boneless/skinless legs and drumsticks shall be free of tendons
extending more than one-half inch beyond the meat tissue, cartilage,
blood clots, bruises, and discolorations other than slight
discolorations, provided they do not detract from the appearance of the
product.
4. Minor flesh abrasions on the outer muscle surface due to
preparation techniques and trimming are permitted provided the outer
surface remains smooth with no angular cuts or tears. Holes resulting
from the removal of the patella (knee cap) are permitted, provided the
bulk of the thigh and drum remain intact and connected.
5. Trimming on the inner muscle surface is permitted, provided it
results in a relatively smooth appearance.
6. Trimming is permitted around the outer edges of the muscle,
provided the trimming results in a portion that approximates the same
symmetrical appearance and meat yield of the original part.
7. Boneless/skinless drumsticks may be further separated by a
single cut parallel to the tibiotarsus and labeled as boneless/skinless
drumstick halves.
Dated: March 22, 1995.
Kenneth C. Clayton,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 95-7724 Filed 3-29-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P