II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3163 

To amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act to require tracing of meat and 

meat food products that are adulterated or contaminated by enteric 

foodborne pathogens to the source of the adulteration or contamination. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 24, 2010 

Mr. TESTER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act to require tracing 

of meat and meat food products that are adulterated 

or contaminated by enteric foodborne pathogens to the 

source of the adulteration or contamination. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Meat Safety and Ac5 countability Act of 2010’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that it is essential and in the public 

8 interest that— 

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1 (1) the health and welfare of consumers be pro2 tected by ensuring that meat and meat food prod3 ucts distributed to consumers are wholesome and not 

4 adulterated or contaminated; and 

5 (2) Federal meat inspection programs identify 

6 all sources, including the slaughterhouse source, of 

7 original adulteration and contamination of enteric 

8 foodborne pathogens in meat in any case in which— 

9 (A) lab samples test positive for enteric 

10 pathogen adulteration or contamination; or 

11 (B) adulterated or contaminated meat is 

12 found in commerce, including foodborne out13 breaks. 

14 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

15 Section 1 of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 

16 U.S.C. 601) is amended by adding at the end the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(x) ENTERIC FOODBORNE PATHOGEN.—The term 

19 ‘enteric foodborne pathogen’ means live bacteriological 

20 matter that is commonly present in the digestive systems 

21 of animals for slaughter, specifically E. coli 0157: H7 and 

22 salmonella, the presence of which in meat food products 

23 may indicate unsanitary conditions at the point of slaugh24 ter. 

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1 ‘‘(y) ESTABLISHMENT.—The term ‘establishment’ 

2 means any person, firm, meat broker, renderer, or animal 

3 food manufacturer.’’. 

4 SEC. 4. PROTECTION AGAINST ADULTERATED AND CON5 TAMINATED MEAT OR MEAT FOOD PROD6 UCTS. 

7 Section 8 of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 

8 U.S.C. 608) is amended— 

9 (1) by striking ‘‘SEC. 8. The Secretary’’ and in10 serting the following: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 8. PROTECTION AGAINST ADULTERATED AND CON12 TAMINATED MEAT OR MEAT FOOD PROD13 UCTS. 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary’’; 

15 (2) by inserting ‘‘or contaminated’’ after ‘‘adul16 terated’’; and 

17 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(b) SAMPLING PROTOCOLS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out this Act, 

20 the Secretary shall implement sampling protocols 

21 using methods and technologies to enable personnel 

22 of the Food Safety and Inspection Service to rapidly 

23 trace potential adulteration and contamination of 

24 meat and meat food products by enteric foodborne 

25 pathogens to possible preceding sources of the adulmstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with BILLS

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1 teration and contamination, including preparation, 

2 packaging, and slaughtering establishments, to de3 termine the original site source of the adulteration 

4 or contamination. 

5 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Sampling protocols 

7 shall include the collection of documentary and 

8 other relevant material to enable rapid tracing, 

9 including— 

10 ‘‘(i) establishment identification data; 

11 ‘‘(ii) a description of the meat or meat 

12 food product; 

13 ‘‘(iii) shipping marks; 

14 ‘‘(iv) bar coding; and 

15 ‘‘(v) disclosure of sole-source or mul16 tiple-source origin. 

17 ‘‘(B) TIMING.—The collection of documen18 tary and other relevant material to enable rapid 

19 tracing under subparagraph (A) shall occur at 

20 the time that samples of the relevant meat or 

21 meat food product are collected. 

22 ‘‘(C) CERTIFICATION.—The onsite inspec23 tor and a responsible establishment representa24 tive shall certify that the documentary and 

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1 other tracing material collected under subpara2 graph (A) is complete and accurate. 

3 ‘‘(3) TRACING OF ADULTERATED AND CON4 TAMINATED MEAT AND MEAT FOOD PRODUCTS.—If 

5 a meat or meat food product sample tests positive 

6 or is indicated to test positive for adulteration or 

7 contamination by enteric foodborne pathogens, the 

8 Secretary shall immediately conduct a trace— 

9 ‘‘(A) to identify all sites of adulteration 

10 and contamination, including preparation, pack11 aging, and slaughtering establishments; and 

12 ‘‘(B) to identify the original source of 

13 adulteration or contamination. 

14 ‘‘(4) SUBSEQUENT SAMPLING.—If a raw 

15 ground meat sample tests positive or is indicated to 

16 test positive for adulteration or contamination by en17 teric foodborne pathogens at a preparation, pack18 aging, or slaughtering establishment, the Secretary 

19 shall require subsequent sampling at the establish20 ment, and any establishments supplying that estab21 lishment, each day for a minimum of 15 consecutive 

22 days after the date on which the adulterated or con23 taminated sample is collected.’’. 

Æ 

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