A recent Directive revision by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA’s FSIS) now includes egg products, a commodity subject to recall under the Directive, and outlines instructions for large-scale recalls and recalls of ingredients regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The revision—FSIS Directive 8080.1, “Managing Adulterated or Misbranded Meat, Poultry, and Egg Products,” Revision 8—also includes new definitions for Class III recalls, clarifies when FSIS may publish Public Health Alerts (PHAs), and makes clarifying revisions throughout.
The Directive defines a recall as a firm's voluntary action to remove adulterated or misbranded products from commerce. Although it is a firm's decision to recall product, either at the firm's initiative or the Agency's recommendation, FSIS will coordinate with the firm to ensure it has properly identified and removed recalled product from commerce. FSIS also notifies the public about Class I and Class II recalls through press releases.