[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 16 (Thursday, January 24, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3475-3476]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-1750]


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 Notices
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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. 67, No. 16 / Thursday, January 24, 2002 / 
Notices  

[[Page 3475]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket No. 01-020N]


Applied Epidemiology and Other Vital Public Health Tools To 
Inform Food Safety Actions

AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing 
that it will hold a two-day public meeting on the use of 
epidemiological data, principles, and techniques, and other public 
health tools to help the Agency achieve its public health goals. The 
Agency will describe its use of epidemiology and other public health 
tools in outbreak investigations and in in-plant environmental 
assessments, present hypothetical scenarios, and invite discussion and 
comment on its approach. This meeting is intended to be the first in a 
series of meetings that will aid FSIS in developing a framework for how 
the Agency will conduct public health investigations, and how it will 
integrate the scientific principles of applied epidemiology into its 
food safety activities. The long-term goal is to arrive at a consensus 
on how and when these tools should be used.

DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for January 29 and 30, 2002. The 
meeting will be from 8:30 a.m. to approximately 4 p.m. each day. A 
tentative agenda is available in the FSIS Docket Room and on the FSIS 
website at http://fsis.usda.gov.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn Select Atlanta/
Decatur, 130 Clairemont Avenue in Decatur, GA; telephone (404) 371-
0204. FSIS welcomes comments on the topics to be discussed at the 
public meeting. Please send an original and two copies of comments to 
the FSIS Docket Clerk, Docket #01-020N, 102 Cotton Annex, Washington, 
DC 20250-3700. All comments and the official transcript, when it 
becomes available, will be kept in the FSIS Docket Room at the above 
address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Charles Gioglio at (202) 205-0256. 
Registration for the meeting will be on-site. If a sign language 
interpreter or other special accommodation is necessary, contact Ms. 
Mary Harris as soon as possible at (202) 690-6497.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    FSIS administers the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry 
Products Inspection Act, and the Egg Products Inspection Act. The 
Agency's activities are intended to prevent the distribution in 
domestic or foreign commerce, as human food, of unwholesome, 
adulterated, or misbranded meat, poultry, and egg products, including 
products that may transmit diseases or that may be otherwise injurious 
to health.
    In recent years, the Agency has placed increased emphasis on its 
public health protection role. Throughout the 1990's, the Agency's most 
important goal was an improved food safety inspection system, 
exemplified by the Pathogen Reduction/Hazard Analysis and Critical 
Control Point (PR/HACCP) regulations which are now fully implemented. 
FSIS has consistently sought to enhance the public health by minimizing 
foodborne illness from meat, poultry, and egg products. The Agency has 
worked toward achieving this goal by implementing measures intended to 
reduce pathogens on raw products, by strengthening relationships with 
public health agencies at the Federal and State levels, by making food 
safety information and training available to people at every point in 
the food production and marketing chain, and by promoting international 
cooperation in food safety.
    The Agency's Strategic Plan for 2000-2005 proposes that FSIS 
continue to focus its operations and resources on food safety and 
continue to strengthen the scientific basis for its regulatory 
activities and initiatives.
    FSIS would like the views, suggestions, and comments of all of its 
food safety constituencies, including the general public, on the 
approaches it has been using, and on how it should continue to use 
applied epidemiology and other public health tools to achieve its 
mission. For many years, FSIS has used epidemiology and other methods 
as tools in tracking the source of outbreaks of foodborne illness. On 
several occasions, FSIS has based a recall request or a regulatory 
action on epidemiological data that indicated that product from a 
particular establishment is adulterated, but without a positive 
laboratory finding. Recent improvements in the technology of outbreak 
investigation and genetic fingerprinting of pathogens from persons and 
food products have resulted in significant changes. It is now possible 
to identify otherwise unrecognized outbreaks and to provide substantive 
evidence to link products to illnesses. The Agency has begun using the 
techniques of epidemiology during in-plant assessments to help identify 
the source of on-going plant contamination.

Public Meeting

    At the public meeting, FSIS officials will discuss the use of 
applied epidemiology and other public health tools in foodborne illness 
outbreak investigations and their application to in-plant assessments 
and regulatory decisions, including whether to request a recall of FSIS 
regulated products. The first day of the meeting will focus on 
foodborne illness outbreaks; the second day will focus on in-plant 
applications of epidemiological principles and approaches and other 
tools. During the meeting, FSIS officials will discuss the Agency's 
public health approach to foodborne illness outbreaks and in-plant 
assessments. FSIS officials will discuss the role of epidemiology and 
other public health tools in outbreak investigations and recall 
decisions, and the use of epidemiological data, principles, and 
investigative and other techniques in conducting in-plant environmental 
assessments to prevent foodborne illness. The Agency also will present 
its current thinking on approaches that integrate epidemiological 
principles and techniques into inspection methods and activities. 
Hypothetical scenarios based on recent cases of foodborne illnesses and 
in-plant contamination will be presented by Agency personnel to 
discussion panels of food safety experts.

[[Page 3476]]

Finally, the Agency will open the discussion to include, and solicit 
comment from, the attendees. FSIS believes that this type of public 
process will assist it in achieving its goals and will enhance the 
understanding of the public health community.

Additional Public Information

    Public awareness of all segments of policy development is 
important. Consequently, in an effort to better ensure that minorities, 
women, and persons with disabilities are aware of this public meeting, 
FSIS will announce it and provide copies of this Federal Register 
publication in the FSIS Constituent Update. FSIS provides a weekly FSIS 
Constituent Update, which is communicated via fax to over 300 
organizations and individuals. In addition, the update is available on 
line through the FSIS web page located at http://www.fsis.usda.gov. The 
update is used to provide information on FSIS policies, procedures, 
regulations, Federal Register notices, FSIS public meetings, recalls, 
and any other types of information that could affect or would be of 
interest to our constituents/stakeholders. The constituent fax list 
consists of industry, trade, and farm groups, consumer interest groups, 
allied health professionals, scientific professionals, and others that 
have requested to be included. Through these various channels, FSIS is 
able to provide information to a much broader, more diverse audience. 
For more information and to be added to the constituent fax list, fax 
your request to the Congressional and Public Affairs Office, at (202) 
720-5704.

    Done at Washington, DC on: January 17, 2002.
Margaret O'K. Glavin,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 02-1750 Filed 1-23-02; 8:45 am]
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