Food Safety

Risk-Based Inspections and Microbial Monitoring Needed for Meat and Poultry Gao ID: T-RCED-94-189 April 19, 1994

Because of outdated statutory requirements for visual inspection of meat and poultry, the federal Food Safety and Inspection Service is unable to target scarce resources to detect microbial contamination, a primary cause of foodborne disease. Over the past 15 years, GAO and others have reported repeatedly that the federal meat and poultry system is obsolete and must be replaced with a scientific, risk-based system that can better protect the public. This testimony, in addition to discussing why the federal system falls short in addressing microbial contamination, also examines industry use of microbial testing programs. GAO also critiques the Food Safety and Inspection Service's proposal that meat and poultry plants implement a quality control system known as hazard analysis and critical control point.



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