FSIS Notice 20-13 - Food Safety and Inspection Service

1. FSIS Directive 10,010.1 Rev. 3, Verification Activities for Escherichia coli O157:H7 in
Raw Beef Products, and
2. FSIS PHIS Directive 6410.1 Rev. 1, Verifying Sanitary Dressing and Process Control
Procedures by Off-line Inspection Program Personnel (IPP) in Slaughter Operations of
Cattle of Any Age.
III. INITIAL INSPECTION PROGRAM PERSONNEL RESPONSIBILITIES
A. After receipt of this notice, at the next weekly meeting, IPP assigned to veal slaughter
establishments are to meet with establishment management. IPP are to inform establishment
management that:
1. IPP will be performing the Beef Sanitary Dressing task at an increased frequency. IPP
will perform the sanitary dressing task at least twice a week for the next 90 days. IPP will
follow the methodology in FSIS PHIS Directive 6410.1 Rev. 1, Verifying Sanitary
Dressing and Process Control Procedures by Off-line Inspection Program Personnel
(IPP) in Slaughter Operations of Any Age.
2. The purpose of this activity is to verify that veal slaughter establishments have
implemented sanitary dressing and process control procedures to prevent contamination
of carcasses (9 CFR 310.18(a)) and to ensure that insanitary conditions are not created
(9 CFR 416.1 and 416.2-416.5, as applicable).
B. IPP are to document this meeting in a Memorandum of Interview (MOI) according to FSIS
PHIS Directive 5000.1, Verifying an Establishment’s Food Safety System and to provide a copy
of the MOI to establishment management.
IV. SANITARY DRESSING VERIFICATION
A. Routinely, IPP perform the Beef Sanitary Dressing task once every other week. However,
IPP assigned to veal slaughter establishments are to perform the Beef Sanitary Dressing task at
an increased frequency for the next 90 days.
1. IPP assigned to veal slaughter establishments are to perform the Beef Sanitary
Dressing task at least twice a week for the next 90 days by adding directed tasks.
2. IPP are to follow the methodology FSIS PHIS Directive 6410.1 Rev. 1, Verifying Sanitary
Dressing and Process Control Procedures by Off-line Inspection Program Personnel (IPP)
in Slaughter Operations of Any Age.
B. IPP are to follow the instructions in FSIS PHIS Directive 13,000.1 Rev. 1, Scheduling In-plant
Inspection Tasks in the Public Health Information System (PHIS) when scheduling their
inspection tasks. IPP are to designate any unscheduled tasks that they did not complete as “not
performed” as a result of the increased frequency of the Beef Sanitary Dressing task. IPP are to
select “Higher priority task took precedent” as the reason code.
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