On July 16, 2014, the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a proposed rule to require that all official establishments and retail stores that grind raw beef products must keep records that disclose the identity and contact information of the supplier of all source materials that they use in the preparation of each lot of raw ground beef. Establishments and retailers must also record the names of those supplied source materials, including beef components and carryover from one production lot to the next. Records are required to document lot numbers, the amount of beef component used in each lot, the date and time each lot was produced, and the date and time when grinding equipment and other related food contact surfaces were cleaned and sanitized. Recordkeeping requirements apply even when raw beef products are ground at an individual consumer’s request. Please see this Lieberman PLLC Regulatory Alert for more information.
