December 6, 2000

USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service says surveys have found illegal residues in meat and poultry at a low rate, but the agency still wants to improve how its officials approach residue issues, including choosing cull cows for sampling. An FSIS survey of veterinary medical officers in plants that generally slaughter older cows shows that agency standards are not being applied uniformly.

"While it appears that most meat is well within the residue safety standards, FSIS needs to do a better job of applying its standards in a consistent manner when selecting which carcasses to test," said FSIS Administrator Thomas J. Billy. He pledged to ensure that veterinarians have the proper training, staff time and equipment to conduct the necessary tests.

FSIS has two programs to test for illegal residues of chemicals. A statistically significant set of samples is taken nationwide as part of a monitoring program. This program has shown that U.S. producers are consistently well within the tolerance levels for residues set for FSIS by the Food and Drug Administration. FSIS veterinarians also sample carcasses for cause--when they believe an animal exhibits signs or symptoms that would indicate illegal levels of residues may exist. Such drug use is more likely to occur in older animals such as cull cows.

Based on agency concerns about the application of standards for testing, FSIS' Technical Service Center staff conducted the "Survey of the National Residue Program Uniform Application in Cull Cow Plants." The team randomly selected 30 of 40 plants that slaughter the highest volume of cull cows in the nation. The results of the survey are representative of the high-volume plants which slaughter more than 90% of the cull cows nationwide.

The survey results indicate a disparity in how carcasses are selected as well as some discrepancy for how the in-plant screening tests are conducted. Based on these results, FSIS is planning extensive in- plant correlation for FSIS staff in the approximately 100 plants that routinely slaughter cull cows. The in-plant sessions will address how carcasses are selected for sampling as well as how the testing should be handled.

FSIS also is plans a public meeting on Dec. 11 to discuss how residues should be handled under Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points systems. The meeting will address appropriate responsibilities for plants, and how FSIS can best enforce its residue policies. FSIS is also expecting to make information about repeat residue violators available to plants that slaughter animals so they can use the information in making purchasing decisions. The agency expects this year to publish a notice updating agency regulations to be consistent with FDA regulations regarding the unacceptability of animals with violative residues.