The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has announced updated protective measures in light of 2024’s Listeria outbreaks.
FSIS’s changes revolve around three categories: enhancing its science-based approach to mitigate foodborne pathogens with a key focus on Listeria monocytogenes, improving training and tools for its inspection workforce, and evolving its oversight of regulated facilities, with an emphasis on data review and state inspection agreements, per the USDA’s official FSIS press release.
8 measures FSIS is taking
FSIS outlined eight impending steps to combat the rise in Listeria cases in the release:
· Effective January 2025, FSIS will add broader Listeria species testing to all samples of ready-to-eat product, environmental and food contact surfaces.
· FSIS will leverage the expertise of its National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF).
· FSIS will update its instructions and training for food safety inspectors to better equip the workforce to recognize and highlight systemic problems in a standardized way.
· FSIS will conduct Food Safety Assessments (in-depth food safety reviews) at ready-to-eat meat and poultry facilities.
· FSIS field supervisors will conduct in-person, follow-up visits when systemic issues are identified during a Food Safety Assessment.
· FSIS inspectors will verify specific Listeria monocytogenes-related risk factors at ready-to-eat facilities weekly.
· FSIS will clarify state and Federal requirements for consistent oversight of Talmadge-Aiken (TA) programs through updated cooperative agreements and instructions.
· FSIS will revise establishment-review alert triggers.
As of Dec. 17, there have been 58 Listeria-based food and beverage recalls in 2024, according to data from the USDA’s Recalls, Market Withdrawals, & Safety Alerts.
 | Read this story on deli meat producer Boar's Head closing down its Jarratt, Va. plant after a deadly September 2024 Listeria outbreak. |
Despite concern, Dr. Emilio Esteban, USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety, released a statement on the improvements FSIS is implementing.
“As a science-based regulatory agency, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service is constantly looking at ways we can and should evolve our processes to protect the public, maintain confidence in America’s food supply, and prevent foodborne illness,” Esteban said in the Dec. 17 FSIS press release.
“These steps are common sense improvements to our work that will strengthen our food safety net as we continue improving the agency’s work to align with the best available science and practices.”
