[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 236 (Tuesday, December 9, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 64767-64769]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-32193]
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Proposed Rules
Federal Register
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This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 236 / Tuesday, December 9, 1997 /
Proposed Rules
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food Safety and Inspection Service
9 CFR Parts 381 and 441
[Docket No. 97-052N]
Retained Water in Poultry Products; Protocols for Obtaining Data
on Meat and Poultry Chilling Processes
AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is notifying the
public of its interest in receiving and reviewing protocols for
obtaining data on chilled, ready-to-cook poultry products and
simultaneously requesting comments on the principles which it has
tentatively identified to guide its review of those protocols. The data
may be used: to benchmark the effectiveness of washing, chilling, and
draining operations in minimizing pathogen growth and moisture
retention in poultry products; and to develop proposed new regulations
limiting retained moisture in poultry products. FSIS views the data
collection as a necessary step in strengthening the basis for its
regulations in the wake of a recent Federal District Court decision
setting aside as ``arbitrary and capricious'' the regulatory limits on
moisture absorption and retention in ready-to-cook whole chickens and
turkeys. FSIS and the poultry industry have relied on these limits for
many years to gauge the effectiveness of chilling processes in meeting
the regulatory objective of minimizing moisture retention in poultry
products. Any new regulatory limits on moisture retention must be based
on sound data. The Agency is willing to review protocols developed
according to the specifications published in this document or
alternative protocols that may be suggested by commenters.
In view of a recent petition from a meat and poultry industry
association, FSIS is also willing to review similar protocols for
obtaining data on processes for the chilling of raw meat carcasses and
parts.
DATES: Comments on the protocol specifications discussed in this
document should be received on or before January 8, 1998.
ADDRESSES: Please send an original and two copies of comments to FSIS
Docket Clerk, DOCKET #97-052, Room 102 Cotton Annex Building, 300 12th
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20250-3700.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Patricia F. Stolfa, Assistant
Deputy Administrator for Regulations and Inspection Methods
Development, FSIS, Room 402 Annex Building, Washington, DC 20250-3700;
(202) 205-0699.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: FSIS carries out the mandates of the Federal
Meat Inspection Act (FMIA; 21 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) and the Poultry
Products Inspection Act (PPIA; 21 U.S.C. 451 et seq.) to ensure that
meat, meat food, and poultry products prepared for interstate and
foreign commerce are wholesome, not adulterated, and properly marked,
labeled, and packaged. The Agency maintains continuous inspection
oversight of operations in meat and poultry slaughtering and processing
establishments. Among the requirements enforced by the Agency are those
having to do with the post-evisceration handling and storage of
carcasses and parts.
Dressed carcasses typically move through washes and sprays to
remove slaughter debris and foreign matter before being conveyed to
chilled, refrigerated, or frozen. FSIS regulations governing the
chilling of livestock and poultry carcasses reflect accepted commercial
practices. Prior to shipment, livestock carcasses have traditionally
been air-chilled and shipped in refrigerated trucks or railroad cars;
they are commonly divided into primal and subprimal parts at the
slaughtering establishment, cut-up, or boned-out and boxed before being
shipped frozen or refrigerated. Prior to shipment, livestock carcasses
are usually held in large cooling rooms and may be subject to spraying
or ``misting'' processes intended to prevent them from shrinking. It is
technologically feasible and commercially practical to air-chill
livestock carcasses, combining this process with a spray system in a
manner that, on average, does not result in an increase in the carcass
weight. The regulations affecting chilled livestock carcasses and parts
concern the sanitation conditions of storage or transport.
Poultry carcasses have traditionally been immersion-chilled and are
shipped as chill-packed, ice-packed, or frozen. The poultry chilling
regulations require that carcasses be chilled to 40 deg.F or less
within a specified time after slaughter and limit the amount of
retained water in product.
Poultry carcasses are chilled in immersion chilling tanks filled
with water or water and ice to remove animal heat and inhibit microbial
growth. Modern chillers are equipped with refrigeration units and
systems for controlling water flow volume, direction, and agitation.
They are efficient and effective, but inevitably, immersion-chilled
poultry carcasses absorb water, mostly under the skin. The absorption
of water during chilling has been considered acceptable in good
commercial practice since the 1940's as a trade-off to gain the food-
safety benefits of rapid chilling. The immersion chilling of poultry
was considered good commercial practice in 1957, when Congress enacted
the Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 451 et seq.) (PPIA).
The Department promulgated regulations limiting moisture absorption
in poultry in 1959, 1961, and 1970 (December 1, 1959, 24 FR 9566; July
19, 1961, 26 FR 6471; October 7, 1970, 35 FR 739). The regulations,
covering the various kinds and weight classes of frozen, ice-packed,
and chilled poultry, allow processors flexibility in adjusting their
chilling systems as long as the maximum water absorption limits are not
exceeded. Each processor establishes procedures to comply with the
chilling and water absorption control requirements. Inspectors sample
carcasses each day from each chilling system before washing and after
chilling, and with limited draining time to determine if the poultry is
in compliance with the absorbed moisture limits. If the moisture limits
are exceeded, the poultry is retained until enough moisture has drained
to allow the birds to be in compliance.
As a practical matter, establishments must keep their overall
moisture absorption averages below the maximum limitations to meet the
water absorption limits on a day-to-day basis.
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The average percentage below the limits varies from establishment to
establishment, depending on the individual operation. Most poultry
establishments consistently comply with the water control requirements.
The moisture retention limits and other differences between the
meat and poultry inspection regulations have become a focus of
attention. Early in 1996, for example, FSIS received a petition from
several national livestock industry associations concerning perceived
inequities between the meat and poultry regulations. Among other
issues, the petitioners questioned the difference between water
absorption allowances for meat and for poultry.
FSIS has studied the regulations to determine where the regulatory
treatment of different species can be made the same. In 1992, FSIS
commissioned the Research Triangle Institute (RTI) to compare the two
sets of regulations. In June 1993, RTI issued a comprehensive report,
which attributed the differences on water absorption to ``traditional
industry practice.''1 FSIS has also adopted a regulatory
reform plan that will lead to a consolidated set of regulations that
apply to all inspected species. The Agency's ``Pathogen Reduction;
Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points Systems'' (PR/HACCP) final
rule (61 FR 38806; July 25, 1996) and the recent proposed rulemaking on
sanitation (62 FR 45046; August 25, 1997) are examples of initiatives
in this plan.
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\1\ From the ``Summary Report'' in RTI Report: Comparison of
USDA Meat and Poultry Regulations. Title 9 CFR: Subchapter A,
Subchapter C, June 1993.
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In 1994, a group of poultry consumers and red meat producers
brought an action against the Department in a Federal District Court
challenging several differences in the regulatory requirements for meat
and poultry, including the regulations which allow the absorption and
retention of water in chilled poultry.
Plaintiffs in Kenney et al. v. Glickman alleged that poultry
products containing absorbed water were both economically adulterated
and misbranded within the meaning of the PPIA. They also alleged that
the regulations violated the Administrative Procedure Act because they
were arbitrary and capricious when compared to the regulatory
prohibition on absorbed water in meat carcasses. The Court found that
poultry containing absorbed water was not economically adulterated or
misbranded under the PPIA. However, the Court also found that the
regulation specifying moisture absorption and retention limits for
ready-to-cook poultry that is to be frozen, cooked, or consumer-
packaged as whole poultry (9 CFR 381.66(d)(2)) was arbitrary and
capricious because the rulemaking record failed to adequately explain
how the particular water retention levels were set and why meat and
poultry should be treated differently.
Need for Current Data on Chilling and Moisture Retention
The Court left in place the general requirement at 9 CFR
381.66(d)(1) for establishments to minimize moisture absorption and
retention in poultry at the time of packaging. The Court also left
standing the regulations at 9 CFR 381.66 (d)(3)-(d)(6) controlling the
amount of retained moisture in chickens and turkeys that are to be cut
up or ice-packed. But the Court's decision left FSIS with no regulatory
maximum limit for retained moisture in chilled or frozen whole poultry
carcasses.
FSIS believes it is necessary to clarify what percentages, if any,
are permissible in raw meat and poultry, and under what circumstances.
Otherwise, the controversy that was brought to a head in the Kenney
case will remain unresolved--a situation the Agency considers
unsatisfactory. FSIS needs better quantitative information before
considering whether to amend the current requirements limiting moisture
retention in poultry products, and particularly in ready-to-cook whole
birds. For example, FSIS needs baseline data reflecting the performance
capabilities of technology now in use in inspected establishments. The
data should be collected under acceptable protocols in accordance with
the specifications described below.
On October 2, 1997, the American Meat Institute, a trade
association representing meat and poultry slaughtering and processing
establishments, petitioned the Department to allow incidental levels of
moisture in meat and poultry as part of chilling practices that improve
food safety. In view of this petition, FSIS also is willing to consider
data on processes for the chilling of meat carcasses and parts. The
data should be collected under acceptable protocols in accordance with
the specifications described below, as applicable in meat
establishments.
Protocol for Gathering Moisture Retention Data
A protocol should state a purpose. The Agency would prefer that the
purpose be to determine the amount or percentage of moisture absorption
and retention that is inevitable using a particular chilling system
while achieving the regulatory pathogen reduction performance standard
for Salmonella (for chickens) as set forth in the PR/HACCP final rule
and the time/temperature requirements set forth in 9 CFR 381.66.
The protocol should state the type of washing and chilling system
used by the establishment. For poultry establishments, the main chiller
types, identified by the mechanism used to transport the birds through
the chiller or to agitate the water in the chiller, are the drag-
through, the screw type, and the rocker-arm type.
The protocol should also describe the configuration of the chiller
system components, modifications of the components, and steps in the
chilling process. The description should include the number of chillers
in a series and arrangements of chilling system components, and the
number of evisceration lines feeding into a chiller system. If there is
a pre-chilling step in the process, its purpose and the type of
equipment used should be accurately described. Any mechanical or design
changes made to the chilling equipment should be described.
All special features in the chilling process, such as antimicrobial
treatments, should be described. Also, the length and velocity of the
dripping line should be described, as well as the time allowed for
dripping. Any special apparatus, such as a mechanism for squeezing
excessive moisture from chilled birds, should be explained.
Next, the protocol should contain a description of variable factors
in the chilling system that affect water absorption and retention. Such
factors are typically considered to be the time in chiller water, the
water temperature, and agitation. The protocol should consider air
agitation, where applicable.
Additional factors that may affect water-absorption and retention
are scalding temperature and the pressure or amount of buffeting
applied to birds by feather removal machinery, and the resultant
loosening of the skin. Another factor that should be considered is the
method used to open the bird for evisceration. Commenters may suggest
additional factors that should be considered.
The protocol should also state the standards to be met by the
chilling system. For example, the chilling system may be designed
simply to achieve a reduction in temperature of ready-to-cook poultry
to less than 40 deg.F. within the time limit specified by the
regulations, or in less time. As to the standard for pathogen
minimization, the Salmonella pathogen reduction
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standards, as set forth in the PR/HACCP final rule, have been
suggested. Although there is not yet an applicable Salmonella standard
for turkeys, commenters are free to suggest a practicable standard for
use in gathering data on turkeys under the protocols here suggested.
Commenters are also free to suggest the use of other microbiological
targets, such as a standard for reduction in generic E. coli counts or
reductions in numbers of other microorganisms.
Finally, the protocol should describe the testing methods to be
employed both for measuring water absorption and retention and for
sampling and testing product for pathogen reductions. With respect to
the latter, FSIS recommends the methods to be used for E. coli and
Salmonella testing under the PR/HACCP final rule. The number of
samples, the type of samples, the sampling time period and the type of
testing or measurement should be included in the protocol. There also
should be a provision for reporting data obtained, summarizing the
results and drawing conclusions.
FSIS requests that interested parties submit their comments on the
foregoing protocol specifications at their earliest opportunity, and
preferably by the date indicated in the DATES section of this document.
Should FSIS decide to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking on retained
moisture, sound, readily available data will be needed during the
comment period to avoid a protracted rulemaking.
Done at Washington, DC: December 3, 1997.
Thomas J. Billy,
Administrator, Food Safety Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 97-32193 Filed 12-8-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-DM-P