Compliance and Investigations Division (CID)

Proposed Rules  Official establishments, and retail stores that grind raw beef products, will keep records.  Federal Register  Docket No. FSIS  Vol. 79, No. 140  July 22,

Summary  FSIS is proposing to amend its recordkeeping regulations to specify that all official establishments, and retail stores that grind raw beef products for sale, must keep records. 3

Records  Records will disclose the identity, and contact information of the supplier of all source materials, for each lot of raw ground beef. Records are required to:  Identify lot numbers.  Include date and time of each lot produced.  Include date and time when grinding equipment, and other related food contact surfaces, were cleaned and sanitized  *Include raw beef products ground at an individual customer’s request 4

Why?  FSIS Investigators, and other public health officials, use records to identify and trace back beef that may be the source of illness, to suppliers that produced the source material.  FSIS efforts to trace back ground beef products is often impeded due to the lack of documentation.  Without records, FSIS cannot conduct timely and effective consumer foodborne illness investigations. 5

What is Trace Back?  Actions taken to identify the flow of product back to the official establishment where the implicated product originated, or other official establishments, retail stores, warehouses, distributors, restaurants, or other firms in commerce 6

What is Trace Forward ?  Actions taken to identify potentially contaminated batches of meat, originating from the same official establishment, other establishments, retail stores, warehouses, distributors, restaurants, or other in commerce firms that may have been affected by contaminated product. 7

Background Info:  FSIS investigated 130 illness outbreaks from 2007 through  74 determined to be caused by the consumption of ground beef.  31 linked to ground beef at a retail venue. 8

President’s Food Safety Working Group Recommended a new public health-focused approach to food safety based on three core principals: 1. Prioritizing prevention 2. Strengthening surveillance and enforcement 3. Improving response and recovery 9

Objectives:  Quickly identify, and stop, outbreaks of foodborne illness.  Identify all remaining source material, removing it as quickly as possible, to prevent additional illnesses.  Develop a tracing system that shortens the time between outbreak detection, resolution, and recovery.  The system should permit rapid trace back to the source, protecting consumers and enabling industry to recover contaminated product quickly and accurately. 10

Current Law and Regulations:  21 U.S.C 642 – Establishments and retail stores that grind raw beef products for sale must keep records that will fully and correctly disclose all transactions involved in their businesses subject to the Act.  9 CFR (a) – Every person, firm, or corporation required by Section 642 of the FMIA to keep records must keep records that will fully and correctly disclose all transactions involved in businesses subject to the Act.  9 CFR (b) – Records specifically required to be kept include, but not limited to: bills of sale, invoices, bills of lading, and receiving and shipping papers. 11

Real World Examples:  In December 2011, a Maine-based grocery chain recalled an undetermined amount of fresh ground beef products that may have been contaminated with a multiple drug- resistant strain of Salmonella Typhimurium.  Initiated in response to illness.  FSIS was unable to determine suppliers of the beef, which accounted for 15 human illnesses.  The stores did not list all of the suppliers of the raw beef ground. 12

Same Retailer, Different Outcome:  June 2012  Illness outbreak involving 46 persons with Salmonella Enteritidis.  Same Maine-based grocery store.  This time, store had implemented improvements in their record system and grinding logs  FSIS was able to determine source.  Federal establishment recalled approximately 29,000 pounds of adulterated products. 13

Speaking of Grinding Logs… 14

Who’s Affected….  Approximately 76,093 retail stores and official establishments including:  64,380 supermarkets  5,924 meat markets  4,544 warehouse clubs and supercenters  1,245 official establishments 15

Costs?  Results in an estimated total cost to industry of about $2.69 million to $4.39 million dollars. 16

Benefits?  Lower direct costs for recalls  Decrease in the average volume of product recalled.  Reduced damage to reputation during food safety events.  Consumer confidence  Averted illnesses  Average cost per E. coli O157:H7 is $3281  Average cost per Salmonella is $2423  Proposed rule may result in net economic benefits due to cost savings for each averted ground beef linked foodborne illness. 17

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