AMI Supports Test and Hold Policy
Meatingplace reports that the American Meat Institute (AMI) would support a new USDA policy that would require companies to hold onto meat products tested by the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) until the test results became available. Such a policy would prevent meat from entering the marketplace until it was known whether or not it tested positive for a pathogen. Some companies already voluntarily hold their product until test results are known, however 26 of the 49 E. coli O157:H7 recalls in 2007 occurred in products that had tested positive after leaving control of the production company. The same was true in almost all of the Listeria related recalls.
