Industry News - PM

USDA releases final tenderized beef labeling rule


By Lisa M. Keefe on 5/13/2015

The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has released its final rule requiring labels on mechanically tenderized meat products, including validated cooking instructions.

The rule was two years in the making and requires that the product names of the affected products include the descriptive designation “mechanically tenderized,” “blade tenderized” or “needle tenderized.” Raw products that are destined for foodservice or home cooking have to include cooking instructions that recommend that mechanically tenderized beef be cooked to a minimum internal temperature of 145 degrees followed by a three-minute rest time.

Mechanically tenderized products that are fully cooked at FSIS-inspected establishments are exempt.

The new rule is intended to address issues with the blades or needles used to mechanically tenderized meat cuts, which can introduce pathogens from the surface of the meat into the interior. If not fully cooked, then, the pathogens could make diners sick the same way a rare or medium rare burger can.

Consumers have been getting messages about fully cooking their burgers, however, whereas they are more likely to cook mechanically tenderized steak on the rare side, the same they way would with an intact cut.

Said North American Meat Institute CEO Barry Carpenter, in a statement sent to Meatingplace, “We are confident in the safety of products that are mechanically tenderized to increase tenderness, a trait that consumers desire in meat products.  Data show that our proactive, food safety efforts have improved these products’ safety profile over the last several years.   

While we don’t believe these products need special labeling, we recognize that this rule is less burdensome than the earlier version and represents a compromise. We will work with the Food Safety and Inspection Service to implement the new labeling requirement in the most effective manner for both industry and consumers.”

About 11 percent, or 2.6 billion pounds, of beef products sold in the U.S. have been mechanically tenderized, according to USDA data. Deputy Undersecretary Al Almanza said the new rule comes in response to six outbreaks of illnesses linked to bacterial contamination in mechanically tenderized meat since 2000. "This common sense change will lead to safer meals and fewer foodborne illnesses," Almanza was quoted as saying in a report on the Politico website.

One-time costs to the processors have been estimated to be about $300 per label.

Canada requires that mechanically tenderized beef cuts be labeled as “tenderized” and with cooking instructions. Some retailers, including Costco, have voluntarily indicated whether meat was blade-tenderized following an E. coli outbreak in Canada.

Though processors have used the mechanical tenderization process extensively for years, only recently has it come under widespread public scrutiny. 

The rule can be read in its entirety here.


 
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