The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) says it is standardizing the approach it takes when livestock or poultry sampling reveals chemicals that aren’t covered in federal regulations.

“The new, structured approach is part of FSIS’s ongoing modernization efforts to implement science-based measures that fill gaps in existing public health policy,” says USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety Al Almanza.

FSIS says improved testing technology has resulted in the detection of uncovered chemicals that occasionally show up in animal products. They include environmental contaminants, heavy metals, industrial chemicals and mycotoxins, which may be present in the water, soil or air in the vicinity of the animals.