Final Poultry Rules Announced

The Food and Drug Administration has published the final guidance to help egg producers comply with the new FDA egg safety rule. According to the FDA announcement, – the final guidance differs from the draft guidance in that it addresses environmental sampling plans for a variety of poultry house styles, as requested by commenters. The final guidance provides recommendations aimed at reducing Salmonella Enteritidis in shell eggs — including environmental testing for SE, egg testing for SE, sampling methodology for SE, and recordkeeping requirements for the SE prevention plan.

The new rule requires egg producers to have preventive measures in place on the farm during the production of shell eggs and subsequent refrigeration during storage and transportation. The new food safety requirements became effective for egg producers having 50,000 or more laying hens, which represent about 80 percent of production. Producers with at least 3,000 but fewer than 50,000 laying hens must comply with the new rule by July 2012.