Proposed Meat Grind Traceability Regulation Could Be Law As Soon As Early 2015

On July 16, 2014 the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) proposed a regulation to require retail stores to keep records containing information on the suppliers of source materials used in the meat grind production process*. Industry sources predict the rule could become law as soon as early 2015 and be enforced as soon as late 2015.

Applied Data Corporation (ADC) has been providing retailers with grind traceability solutions for over 5 years with their Meat Grind Traceability Management module and has been following the proposed regulation very closely.

On October 21, 2014, ADC submitted official comments to the proposed regulation**.  These comments were to provide FSIS with information on current solutions available to meet the regulation, as well as to identify requirements in the regulation that would put an unnecessary burden on retailers.

In their comments, ADC emphasized that FSIS should explicitly accommodate the use of electronic recordkeeping for meat grind traceability data because such solutions are already being used by retailers across the country and meet the requirements of the proposed regulation.   

ADC’s Meat Grind Traceability Management module is an electronic, automated system that captures and records source materials through the meat grind process, providing the information that both retailers and regulatory agencies need to quickly and effectively identify potential source materials that could cause or contribute to an outbreak, at any time.

The Meat Grind Traceability Management module is installed at a retailer's headquarters and features an easy-to-use browser user interface that enables retailers to quickly implement the software with little investment in additional hardware.  The software captures all of the required information from the primal’s barcode with wireless handheld devices.

*Read about the proposed regulation here.
**Read ADC’s comments on the proposed regulation here.