2005 Beef Business Bulletin Stories Archive
Rule Amends What Packers Can Use
Cattle processors on Sept. 7 learned that they will be able to use most of the small intestine as part of the human food chain beginning Oct. 7. The Food Safety Inspection Service amended its interim rule regarding removal of specified risk material to make the allowance. Packers who do so must exclude the distal ileum and document their procedure in their Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point plans, standard operating procedures or other prerequisite programs.
NCBA has pushed for this amendment knowing that establishments have the technology to effectively remove the distal ileum, which will allow the remaining portion of the small intestine to be used domestically for casings or exported. The export market for beef small intestine is valued at $25 million per year. This change should also allow many domestic sausage processors to stay in business as they will now have access to beef casings.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also published a similar amendment to its interim final rule for removing risk materials from the foods that FDA regulates — dietary supplements and cosmetics — to allow the small intestine to be used. The FDA amendment clarified that milk and milk products, hide and hide-derived products, and tallow derivatives are not considered prohibited materials.