Meat and poultry inspection: E. coli in beef and ground beef; risk assessment; meeting,

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Federal Register: August 18, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 159)NoticesPage 44232From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

DOCID:fr18au98-42

Notices Federal Register

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings, delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency statements of organization and functions are examples of documents appearing in this section.

[Page 44232]

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

Docket No. 98-037NRisk Assessment for E. coli 0157:H7 in Beef and Ground Beef

AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments and public meeting notice.

SUMMARY: The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) plans to conduct a farm-to-table risk assessment for E. coli 0157:H7 in beef with a focus on ground beef. Contingent on an analysis of available epidemiological data concerning outbreaks of E. coli 0157:H7 associated with whole cuts of beef (e.g. roast beef), the scope of the risk assessment will be confined to ground beef products. This notice also announces a public meeting to be held October 28, 1998 and solicits from the public scientific information and data that would be relevant to conducting the risk assessment.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To register for the October 28 meeting, contact Ms. Traci Phebus at (202) 501-7138 or FAX (202) 501- 7642. For further information about the risk assessment or to arrange for a presentation of technical materials at the public meeting, contact Mark Powell, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service, Office of Public Health and Science, Epidemiology and Risk Assessment Division, Room 3718--Franklin Court, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250-3700. Telephone: (202) 501-7391, FAX (202) 501-6982, E-mail: mark.powell@usda.gov. Persons wishing to present technical data at the public meeting are asked to bring 100 copies of their data for distribution to participants in the meeting and to submit one original and two copies of written comments to the FSIS Docket Clerk, Docket #98-037N, Room 102, Cotton Annex Building, 300 12th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20250-3700. Participants who require a sign language interpreter or other special accommodations should contact Ms. Phebus at the above numbers by October 19, 1998.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purpose of this notice is 3-fold: (1) To give public notice of FSIS' intent to conduct the risk assessment, (2) to solicit from the public scientific information and data that would be relevant to conducting the risk assessment, and (3) to announce a public meeting to be held October 28, 1998 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, 4301 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22203-1860, telephone (703) 907-5500 at which the risk assessment team will present and receive comments on the scientific evidence available for input to the risk assessment model.

The goals of the assessment are as follows:

1. To quantitatively model, with attendant uncertainty, human illnesses caused by E. coli 0157:H7 in beef in the United States and to compare these results with national estimates of illnesses from surveillance (e.g. FoodNet).

2. To identify the occurrence and levels of the pathogen at points along the farm-to-table continuum and the contribution of these points to the number of human illnesses (sensitivity analyses).

3. To quantify the effects of various mitigation strategies on the number of human illnesses.

4. To identify future research needs.

5. To document methods and evidence for future assessments.

6. To document changes in the risk assessment model and its inputs.

7. To effectively communicate the results to all interested parties--government, consumer groups, industry, the scientific community and the general public.

The purpose of the October 28 public meeting is to solicit comment and input regarding the scope of the risk assessment, the analytical framework to be used in conducting the risk assessment, the scientific evidence acquired by the risk assessment team to date, and the existing data gaps identified by the risk assessment team. No results from the risk assessment are expected to be available for this meeting. Major topics of discussion are expected to include the strength and limitations of the acquired data, critical gaps in the acquired data, and the availability and utility of other relevant sources of data and scientific information.

Persons unable to attend the meeting may submit comments to the above addresses. Transcripts of this meeting will be available in the FSIS Docket Room.

Done in Washington, DC on: August 11, 1998. Thomas J. Billy, Administrator.

FR Doc. 98-22180Filed8-17-98; 8:45 amBILLING CODE 3410-DM-P

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