“As part of our continuous improvement efforts, we go further than many US retailers in requiring leading-edge food safety standards throughout the entire food production chain,” said Frank Yiannas, vice president for food safety. “In light of recent beef recalls, we determined it was prudent to require an additional layer of protection for our customers.”
The new program requires Walmart and Sam’s Club beef suppliers to implement controls that would reduce potential contamination levels and validate that the measures they’ve implemented are effective through specialized testing. Suppliers who do not operate slaughter houses must be in compliance with the new standard by June 2011. For beef slaughterhouse suppliers, a two-step approach will be implemented, with the first step to be completed by June 2011 and the second by June 2012.