FSIS proposes eliminating carcass marking requirement

Rule applies only to carcasses that will be further processed in the same location

The FSIS is proposing an amendment to federal meat inspection regulations to eliminate the requirement that livestock carcasses be marked with the official inspection legend at the time of inspection in a slaughter establishment if the carcasses are to be further processed in the same establishment.

Previously, slaughter establishments would often ship carcasses to other establishments for further processing. The current regulations require carcasses to be stamped with the official mark of inspection at the time of inspection, to prevent uninspected carcasses from being shipped elsewhere. However, carcasses are now often processed further at the slaughter establishment before being shipped elsewhere.

The proposed amendment would remove the stamp requirement at the time of inspection for carcasses that will be processed further at the slaughter establishment. FSIS inspection personnel will continue to verify that establishments have controls in place to ensure that unmarked carcasses are processed further in the slaughter establishment and that carcasses that are not processed further in the slaughter establishment are properly marked. All primals, subprimals, parts and other meat food products will have to be properly labeled and bear the mark of inspection before entering commerce.

Casey Laughman is the former Editor in Chief of Food Engineering magazine. He has almost two decades’ experience as a writer and editor for mainstream and trade publications. He spent several years as a writer and editor for two news services before becoming the editor of a legal publication and managing editor of a trade magazine that covered the commercial facilities market.