FSIS to Hold Second Meeting on Improving Traceability System Regarding E. Coli

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) will hold a second meeting to discuss current product tracing systems for food intended for humans and animals. The March 10, 2010, meeting in Washington, D.C., specifically welcomes input on procedures for suppliers of source material used to produce raw ground beef products that test positive for E. coli. Issue 326 of this Update announced a similar meeting by FSIS and the Food and Drug Administration held in December 2009 that was designed to stimulate ideas on improving the agencies’ ability to “increase the speed and accuracy of the traceback investigations and traceforward operations.” See USDA website, February 22, 2010.