The American Association of Meat Processors (AAMP) recently announced an upcoming video series to discuss the proposed changes to The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service’s (USDA’s FSIS’) Appendices A and B. The series, titled, “Cooking & Cooling: Alternative Support for Appendix A and B,” will launch in June 2022 and cover many of the products that will be affected by the proposed regulatory changes. Topics that will be covered in the videos include:

• Bone-in hams
• Large-diameter products
• Jerky products
• Fermented products
• Cured products
• Heat-treated, not fully cooked, not shelf-stable products
• Poultry products.

AAMP states that the videos are intended to aid meat processors and industry in identifying solutions for cooking and cooling that meet the new regulatory requirements as outlined in the 2021 version of Appendices A and B. The videos will be short, to-the-point explanations of how to meet the guidelines or find alternative ways to stay in compliance.

The video series will debut on AAMP’s YouTube video channel this June, and will continue to be released throughout the summer and into the fall. AAMP processor members are invited to submit questions via email about the proposed legislative changes, which outreach specialists will address in the videos. 

According to AAMP, meat processors have had many questions and concerns regarding the proposed revisions to Appendices A and B. In a recent survey of AAMP members, processors expressed concerns that their products will not cool quickly enough, that their products will not hit lethality quickly enough, and that they cannot maintain relative humidity in their smokehouses. Processors are also worried about editing their Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) plans to accommodate the changes. The “Cooking & Cooling” video series will address these concerns, among others.

FSIS made the proposed revisions available in the Federal Register on December 14, 2021. Establishments that used previous versions of Appendix A as support have until December 14, 2022 to either update to the 2021 guidelines or identify alternative support. 

AAMP: www.aamp.com.