Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 139 / Thursday, July 19, 2018 / Notices 34101 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Food Safety and Inspection Service 

[Docket No. FSIS–2018–0021] 

Notice of Request for a New 

Information Collection: (Consumer 

Research on the Safe Handling 

Instructions Label for Raw and 

Partially Cooked Meat and Poultry 

Products and Labeling Statements for 

Ready-to-Eat and Not-Ready-to-Eat 

Products) 

AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection 

Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) regulations, the Food Safety and 

Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing 

its intention to collect information in 

the form of consumer research that will 

include a web-based experimental study 

and a behavior change study to help 

inform potential revisions to the current 

Safe Handling Instructions (SHI) label 

and assess whether a label revision 

would improve consumer food safety 

behaviors. FSIS also will collect 

information on consumer use and 

understanding of the labeling on readyto-eat (RTE) and not-ready-to-eat (NRTE) 

meat and poultry products, in particular 

consumers’ ability to discern between 

the two types of products and to ensure 

that NRTE products that may appear to 

be ready to eat are thoroughly cooked. 

DATES: Submit comments on or before 

September 17, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: FSIS invites interested 

persons to submit comments on this 

Federal Register notice. Comments may 

be submitted by one of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: This 

website provides the ability to type 

short comments directly into the 

comment field on this web page or 

attach a file for lengthier comments. Go 

to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow 

the on-line instructions at that site for 

submitting comments. 

• Mail, including CD–ROMs, etc.: 

Send to Docket Clerk, U.S. Department 

of Agriculture, Food Safety and 

Inspection Service, 1400 Independence 

Avenue SW, Mailstop 3758, Room 6065, 

Washington, DC 20250–3700. 

• Hand- or courier-delivered 

submittals: Deliver to 1400 

Independence Avenue SW, Room 6065, 

Washington, DC 20250–3700. 

Instructions: All items submitted by 

mail or electronic mail must include the 

Agency name and docket number FSIS– 

2018–0021. Comments received in 

response to this docket will be made 

available for public inspection and 

posted without change, including any 

personal information, to http://

www.regulations.gov. 

Docket: For access to background 

documents or comments received, call 

(202) 720–5627 to schedule a time to 

visit the FSIS Docket Room at 1400 

Independence Avenue SW, Room 6065, 

Washington, DC 20250–3700. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gina 

Kouba, Office of Policy and Program 

Development, Food Safety and 

Inspection Service, USDA, 1400 

Independence Avenue SW, Room 6065, 

South Building, Washington, DC 20250– 

3700; (202) 720–5627. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title: Consumer Research on the Safe 

Handling Instructions Label for Raw and 

Partially Cooked Meat and Poultry 

Products and Labeling Statements for 

Ready-to-Eat and Not-Ready-to-Eat 

Products. 

Type of Request: New information 

collection. 

Abstract: Safe handling instructions 

are required on the labels of raw or 

partially-cooked (i.e., not considered 

RTE) meat and poultry products, if the 

product is destined for household 

consumers or institutional uses (9 CFR 

317.2(l) and 9 CFR 381.125(b)). FSIS 

first required the SHI label for raw and 

partially cooked meat and poultry 

products in 1994 (54 FR 14528). Since 

that time, the required design of the SHI 

label has not been changed. 

When the SHI label was developed in 

1994, the minimal internal temperature 

requirements for determining whether a 

meat or poultry product was cooked 

enough to be safe varied by product. 

Given this, as well as product and label 

size limitations, FSIS concluded that 

‘‘Cook Thoroughly’’ was the only 

simple, single statement appropriate to 

use for all products (54 FR 14538). FSIS 

now recommends on its website four 

internal minimal temperatures: One for 

all poultry (165 °F), one for ground meat 

(160 °F), one for all whole-muscle meat 

(145 °F and hold for 3 minutes), and one 

for fish (145 °F). With only four 

temperature recommendations, the 

information could be more easily 

incorporated into the SHI requirements. 

Other possible changes to the SHI label 

include incorporating updated icons 

and providing a web link or phone 

number for more information. 

In response to inquiries from 

consumer groups and other stakeholders 

about potential changes to SHI 

requirements, FSIS gathered input from 

members of academia, industry, and 

consumer stakeholders in November 

2013. FSIS presented these suggestions 

to the National Advisory Committee on 

Meat and Poultry Inspection (NACMPI) 

in January 2014. The NACMPI 

Subcommittee on Food Handling Labels 

recommended that FSIS pursue changes 

in the existing SHI label and conduct 

consumer research to determine the 

effectiveness of any revisions to the SHI 

label. 

In 2015, FSIS conducted six consumer 

focus groups (OMB No. 0583–0166; 11/ 

30/2017) to evaluate understanding of 

the current SHI label and responses to 

possible revisions. The focus groups 

revealed that consumers would find 

certain revisions to the SHI label useful. 

Participants suggested changes to 

improve comprehension and adherence 

to recommended safe handling practices 

(e.g., add recommendations to use a 

food thermometer and endpoint 

temperatures for different cuts of meat 

and poultry). Based on the results of 

these focus groups, FSIS determined 

that additional research using more 

rigorous, quantitative approaches with a 

larger sample of consumers was needed 

to help inform potential revisions to the 

current SHI label and assess whether a 

label revision would improve consumer 

food safety behaviors. 

In addition, during the March 2016 

NACMPI meeting, the national advisory 

committee reviewed and discussed 

whether FSIS should pursue proposing 

mandatory features on the label of 

processed NRTE products that may 

appear to be fully cooked (e.g., are 

breaded or have grill marks). The 

committee recommended that FSIS 

require statements, such as ‘‘Raw, 

‘‘Uncooked,’’ or ‘‘Ready to Cook,’’ on 

the labels of raw products that may 

appear RTE, so it is clear that these 

products require cooking to a proper 

internal temperature before eating. The 

committee also recommended that FSIS 

conduct consumer research to 

understand the optimal messaging and 

design of packaging to ensure 

consumers properly understand that 

NRTE products that may appear to be 

fully cooked need to be cooked for 

lethality. The committee stated that 

such labeling may help consumers 

properly distinguish between NRTE 

products, which require a lethality step, 

and RTE products, which do not require 

a lethality step; thus, the committee 

stated that this labeling may help 

consumers safely prepare NRTE 

products. Specifically, the committee 

suggested that FSIS conduct consumer 

research to evaluate the effectiveness of 

possible locations for point of purchase 

labeling information and various color 


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34102 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 139 / Thursday, July 19, 2018 / Notices 

options, font, and other display options. 

FSIS has not previously conducted 

research on this topic. 

To assess whether revisions are 

needed to the SHI label required on all 

raw and partially cooked products and 

to evaluate the ability of consumers to 

properly discern between NRTE and 

RTE products and how labeling for 

these products can be improved, FSIS is 

requesting approval for a new 

information collection to conduct 

consumer behavior research. This 

research will include a web-based 

experimental study, as well as a 

behavior change study, which includes 

three components: An observational 

meal preparation experiment, an eyetracking study, and in-depth interviews 

(IDIs). The research will help inform 

potential revisions to the current SHI 

label and assess whether a label revision 

would be likely to improve consumer 

behaviors related to safely preparing 

raw and partially cooked meat and 

poultry products. The study will also 

collect information on consumer use 

and understanding of labeling for RTE 

and NRTE meat and poultry products. 

FSIS has contracted with RTI 

International to conduct the web-based 

experimental study and the behavior 

change study. For the web-based 

experimental study, a selected sample of 

online consumer panel members will be 

invited to participate in the study via 

email. Inbound sampling will be used to 

select a sample of respondents with 

demographic characteristics (e.g., age, 

education level, race, and ethnicity) 

similar to the U.S. population. The 

primary aim of the web-based 

experimental study is to test 25 mock 

SHI labels that vary by visual design 

elements (e.g., borders, white space, 

spatial arrangement) to determine which 

labels are most salient to consumers. 

Label salience (i.e., participants’ degree 

of attention to the label) will be assessed 

using a limited-time exposure approach 

with cued recall questions. Secondary 

aims of the study include assessing 

comprehension of safe handling 

instructions and safe handling icons and 

measuring the participants’ motivation 

to comply with safe handling messages. 

The data from the experimental study 

will be analyzed to identify the five SHI 

labels that best attract respondents’ 

attention, and from these, three labels 

will be selected for further testing in the 

behavior change study. 

To assess and compare consumer 

behavior in response to the current SHI 

label (control) and the three alternative 

SHI labels, a behavior change study will 

be conducted in test kitchen facilities 

located in four different locations (one 

in each of four Census regions). 

Participants will be recruited using 

convenience sampling (e.g., by posting 

ads on social media). The study will 

ensure a diverse sample of participants 

with respect to race, ethnicity, age, 

education level, and presence of a child 

(0–17 years) in the household. The 

study will use a fully randomized 

experimental design with participants 

randomly assigned to one of three 

treatment groups (that will be used to 

assess three alternative SHIs) or a 

control group (that will be used to 

assess the current SHI). Participants will 

be given recipes and ingredients, 

including two raw meat products 

bearing the assigned SHI label and 

asked to prepare two meat dishes and a 

salad. To assess attention to the SHI 

label during meal preparation, 

participants will wear a mobile eyetracking device. Research staff will 

video-record meal preparation and 

clean-up. Trained researchers will 

subsequently view the videos and use a 

coding rubric to assess adherence to the 

recommended safe handling 

instructions (e.g., washing hands before 

meal preparation and after touching raw 

meat). Statistical analysis comparing the 

differences in handling behavior scores 

between the control (current SHI label) 

and treatment groups will be conducted 

to identify the label that may most 

effectively lead to participants’ 

following the safe handling practices on 

the label. 

Following meal preparation, 

participants will be directed to examine 

each of six mock meat and poultry 

products (i.e., stimuli) while wearing 

the eye-tracking device: Two RTE 

products, two NRTE products that 

appear ready to eat, and two raw 

products. Participants will be asked to 

complete a series of search tasks to 

determine which version of the SHI 

label (three treatment versions or the 

current label) is most often attended to 

on a meat and poultry package and to 

assess whether participants can 

properly distinguish between RTE and 

NRTE products that appear to be ready 

to eat. Eye-tracking metrics for each area 

of interest (AOI), including total time 

spent viewing each AOI, will be 

produced and used in statistical 

analyses to determine the label that best 

captures participants’ attention. 

Lastly, participants will take part in 

an IDI and be asked debriefing questions 

regarding the meal preparation 

experiment and questions to understand 

how consumers determine whether a 

meat or poultry product needs to be 

cooked before eating it. The data will be 

analyzed by analysts using a thematic 

content analysis approach. 

Estimate of Burden: For the pretest for 

the web-based experimental study, it is 

expected that 1,700 individuals will 

receive email invitations to complete 

the study and that 100 will be eligible 

and subsequently complete the study. 

For the web-based experimental study, 

it is expected that 70,000 individuals 

will receive email invitations to 

complete the study and that 3,600 will 

be eligible and subsequently complete 

the study. The invitation email for the 

pretest and the full-scale study is 

expected to take 2 minutes to read 

(0.033 hour). The survey is expected to 

take 20 minutes to complete. The total 

estimated burden of the web-based 

experimental study is 3,623.3 hours. 

For the behavior change study, it is 

expected that 1,695 individuals will 

complete the screener and that 565 will 

be eligible and subsequently be 

contacted by phone to schedule an 

appointment. Of these, it is assumed 

that 480 will take part in the study. Each 

screening is expected to take 8 minutes 

(0.133 hour). It is expected to take 7 

minutes (0.117 hour) to read or listen to 

each appointment call/confirmation 

email/reminder call. It is expected to 

take 10 minutes (0.167 hour) to read the 

informed consent form and watch the 

instructional video. Taking part in the 

behavior change study will take a total 

of 140 minutes (2.333 hours), which 

includes an observational meal 

preparation experiment (80 minutes), an 

eye-tracking component (30 minutes), 

and IDIs (30 minutes). The estimated 

annual reporting burden for the 

behavior change study is 1,491.9 hours, 

which is the sum of the burden 

estimates for each component of the 

study (including the burden for 

individuals who initially complete the 

screener but are not eligible or do not 

agree to participate). 

For all components of the information 

collection, the estimated total number of 

individuals to be screened is 73,395, 

and the estimated total number of 

individuals to complete the web-based 

experimental study, including pretest, 

and the behavior change study is 4,180. 

The estimated total burden for the 

information collection is 5,115.2 hours. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 139 / Thursday, July 19, 2018 / Notices 34103 

ESTIMATED ANNUAL REPORTING BURDEN FOR THE WEB-BASED EXPERIMENTAL STUDY AND THE BEHAVIOR CHANGE

STUDY

Study component 

Estimated 

Number of 

respondents 

Annual 

frequency 

per response 

Total annual 

responses Hours per response Total hours 

Web-Based Experimental Study 

Pretest invitation ......................................................... 1,700 1 1,700 0.033 (2 min.) ......... 56.7 

Pretest ........................................................................ 100 1 100 0.333 (20 min.) ....... 33.3 

Survey invitation ......................................................... 70,000 1 70,000 0.033 (2 min.) ......... 2,333.3 

Survey ......................................................................... 3,600 1 3,600 0.333 (20 min.) ....... 1,200.0 

Total ..................................................................... ........................ ........................ ........................ ................................. 3,623.3 

Behavior Change Study 

Screening questionnaire ............................................. 1,695 1 1,695 0.133 (8 min.) ......... 226.0 

Appointment phone script, confirmation email, reminder phone script.565 1 565 0.117 (7 min.) ......... 65.9 

Consent form and video ............................................. 480 1 480 0.167 (10 min.) ....... 80.0 

Meal Preparation, eye-tracking & in-depth interviews 480 1 480 2.333 (140 min.) ..... 1,120.0 

Total ..................................................................... ........................ ........................ ........................ ................................. 1,491.9 

Total ............................................................. ........................ ........................ ........................ ................................. 5,115.2 

Respondents: Consumers. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

73,395. 

Estimated Number of Annual 

Responses per Respondent: 1. 

Estimated Total Burden on 

Respondents: 5,115.2 hours. 

Copies of this information collection 

assessment can be obtained from Gina 

Kouba, Office of Policy and Program 

Development, Food Safety and 

Inspection Service, USDA, 1400 

Independence Avenue SW, Room 6065, 

South Building, Washington, DC 20250– 

3700; (202) 720–5627. 

Comments are invited on: (a) Whether 

the proposed collection of information 

is necessary for the proper performance 

of FSIS’s functions, including whether 

the information will have practical 

utility; (b) the accuracy of FSIS’s 

estimate of the burden of the proposed 

collection of information, including the 

validity of the method and assumptions 

used; (c) ways to enhance the quality, 

utility, and clarity of the information to 

be collected; and (d) ways to minimize 

the burden of the collection of 

information, including through the use 

of appropriate automated, electronic, 

mechanical, or other technological 

collection techniques, or other forms of 

information technology. Comments may 

be sent to both FSIS, at the addresses 

provided above, and the Desk Officer for 

Agriculture, Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs, Office of 

Management and Budget, Washington, 

DC 20253. 

Responses to this notice will be 

summarized and included in the request 

for OMB approval. All comments will 

also become a matter of public record. 

Additional Public Notification 

Public awareness of all segments of 

rulemaking and policy development is 

important. Consequently, FSIS will 

announce this Federal Register 

publication on-line through the FSIS 

web page located at: http://

www.fsis.usda.gov/federal-register. 

FSIS also will make copies of this 

publication available through the FSIS 

Constituent Update, which is used to 

provide information regarding FSIS 

policies, procedures, regulations, 

Federal Register notices, FSIS public 

meetings, and other types of information 

that could affect or would be of interest 

to our constituents and stakeholders. 

The Update is available on the FSIS web 

page. Through the web page, FSIS is 

able to provide information to a much 

broader, more diverse audience. In 

addition, FSIS offers an email 

subscription service which provides 

automatic and customized access to 

selected food safety news and 

information. This service is available at: 

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/subscribe. 

Options range from recalls to export 

information, regulations, directives, and 

notices. Customers can add or delete 

subscriptions themselves, and have the 

option to password protect their 

accounts. 

USDA Non-Discrimination Statement 

No agency, officer, or employee of the 

USDA shall, on the grounds of race, 

color, national origin, religion, sex, 

gender identity, sexual orientation, 

disability, age, marital status, family/ 

parental status, income derived from a 

public assistance program, or political 

beliefs, exclude from participation in, 

deny the benefits of, or subject to 

discrimination any person in the United 

States under any program or activity 

conducted by the USDA. 

How To File a Complaint of 

Discrimination 

To file a complaint of discrimination, 

complete the USDA Program 

Discrimination Complaint Form, which 

may be accessed online at http://

www.ocio.usda.gov/sites/default/files/ 

docs/2012/Complain_combined_6_8_

12.pdf, or write a letter signed by you 

or your authorized representative. 

Send your completed complaint form 

or letter to USDA by mail, fax, or email: 

Mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

Director, Office of Adjudication, 1400 

Independence Avenue SW, Washington, 

DC 20250–9410. 

Fax: (202) 690–7442. 

Email: program.intake@usda.gov. 

Persons with disabilities who require 

alternative means for communication 

(Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.), 

should contact USDA’s TARGET Center 

at (202) 720–2600 (voice and TDD). 

Paul Kiecker, 

Acting Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2018–15462 Filed 7–18–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–DM–P 


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