USDA rule will require ground beef producers to keep records of where meat came from

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday finalized a rule requiring producers of raw ground beef to keep records of where the meat came from, Lydia Wheeler reports for The Hill. The rule was designed to help the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) "improve its ability to determine the source of foodborne illnesses linked to ground beef and to stop the outbreak from spreading." FSIS said investigations have been hurt by retail stores mixing product from various sources and failing "to keep clear records that would allow investigators to determine which supplier produced the unsafe product."

"Under the rule, all establishments and retail stores that grind raw beef products will be required to keep record of the establishment numbers of establishments supplying material used to prepare each lot of raw ground beef product; all supplier lot numbers and production dates; the names of the supplied materials, including beef components and any materials carried over from one production lot to the next; the date and time each lot of raw ground beef product is produced; and the date and time when grinding equipment and other related food-contact surfaces are cleaned and sanitized," Wheeler writes.