State inspection of meat and poultry

Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan announced today that the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is holding two public meetings on proposed regulations to implement a new program under which State-inspected establishments with 25 or fewer employees will be eligible to ship meat and poultry products in interstate commerce. The announcement will implement a directive of the 2008 Farm Bill and is one component of USDA's "Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food" initiative to help develop local and regional food systems and spur economic opportunity. "These meetings will help ensure that the proposed regulations successfully open doors for small meat and poultry establishments to provide safe products to their communities." The meetings will be held by teleconference and will provide the public with an opportunity to comment on the proposed rule published on September 15, 2009...read more