[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 112 (Monday, June 12, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Page 30830]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-14279]



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 Notices
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 ________________________________________________________________________
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
 or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 112 / Monday, June 12, 1995 / 
Notices  

[[Page 30830]]

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service
[Docket No. PY-95-002)


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 raw, ready-to-
cook, boneless-skinless poultry products, based on tentative grade 
standards.

DATES: This test-market period begins June 12, 1995 and ends June 12, 
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 (7 U.S.C. 1621 et seq.), 
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 numerous boneless and/or skinless products, thus 
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). In addition, on 
March 30, 1995, the Agency approved the test marketing of USDA grade-
identified, boneless/skinless poultry legs and drumsticks, based on 
tentative grade standards, through April 1, 1996 (60 FR 16428).
    The Agency has now been requested by industry to permit the grade 
identification of raw, ready-to-cook, boneless-skinless poultry 
products without added ingredients. These products include poultry that 
has been reduced in size by cutting, slicing, cubing, or similar means 
and products that are currently marketed ungraded because there are no 
grade standards for them.
    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 has worked in partnership with members of the industry 
to develop tentative grade standards for raw, ready-to-cook, boneless-
skinless poultry products without added ingredients and is granting 
permission for a 1-year test marketing period. At the expiration of 
this 1-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 Grade Standards for Ready-to-cook, Boneless-skinless Poultry 
Products Without Added Ingredients--A Quality

    1. The raw, ready-to-cook, boneless-skinless poultry products 
without added ingredients must be labeled in accordance with 9 CFR part 
381.
    2. The poultry product must be derived from ready-to-cook carcasses 
or parts.
    3. The skin and bones shall be removed in a neat manner without 
undue mutilation of adjacent muscle.
    4. The poultry products may be further processed and subdivided by 
cutting, slicing, cubing, or similarly reducing the size prior to 
grading. Individual subdivided pieces of poultry must be of sufficient, 
and relatively uniform, size and shape to determine grade with respect 
to the quality factors set forth in this section.
    5. The poultry products shall be free of cartilage, tendons 
extending more than \1/2\ inch beyond the meat tissue, blood clots, 
bruises, and discolorations other than slight discolorations, provided 
they do not detract from the appearance of the product.
    6. Trimming and minor flesh abrasions due to preparation techniques 
are permitted provided they result in a relatively smooth outer surface 
with no angular cuts, tears, holes, or undue muscle mutilation in the 
meat portion.

    Dated: June 6, 1995.
Lon Hatamiya,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 95-14279 Filed 6-9-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P