WASHINGTON – The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the US Dept. of Agriculture is transitioning from a contract laboratory to using FSIS facilities to deliver the Raw Pork Products Exploratory Sampling Project (RPPESP). The transition represents the second phase of the RPPESP implementation.
All establishments that produce raw pork products with an average daily production volume greater than 1,000 lbs. in product groups eligible for testing are eligible for sampling under the RPPESP. The program includes pork samples from retail, slaughter and processing plants.
In addition to FSIS laboratories conducting tests of the raw pork samples, inspectors at raw pork processing facilities will continue sampling products for Salmonella as part of the project. FSIS also issued new instructions on how inspection personnel should request sampling supplies and conduct sampling tasks.
