What, one might ask, do sanity and sanitation have in common? Well, the etymology of the two words confirms they are each derived from the Latin word sanitas, meaning “health.”
Gold’n Plump Poultry, the Midwest’s largest fully integrated chicken producer, announced that it has achieved Safe Quality Foods (SQF) 2000 Level 2 Food Safety certification from the Safe Quality Foods Institute (SQFI).
Prior to her Feb. 10, 2011, presentation at the National Turkey Federation’s annual convention, Dr. Elisabeth Hagen, Under Secretary for Food Safety for USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), provided updates to several agency initiatives in a one-on-one interview with Dave Lurie, publisher of The National Provisioner. What follows is their conversation:
Beginning this spring, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) will implement its new Public Health Information System (PHIS). This new system will replace the current Performance Based Inspection System (PBIS) at all establishments, as well as serve as the new procedure for imports and exports.
During the spring of 1993, in the midst of the E. coli O157:H7 outbreak, the Secretary of Agriculture asked me how many federally inspected beef plants in the United States had voluntarily implemented HACCP. I had to tell him that out of almost 7,000 plants, less than 500 were practicing HACCP.
On March 19, 2010, FSIS issued a Draft Guidance: HACCP Systems Validation. This draft document outlines procedures plants can use to validate their HACCP systems. It is essentially a re-interpretation of the HACCP regulation published in 1996.
