Constituent Update - June 5, 2026

Constituent Update - June 5, 2026

New Actions to Support Small Meat and Poultry Plants

On June 3, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a set of actions beginning in 2026 to better support small and very small meat and poultry processing plants. These actions are designed to improve customer service, clarify regulatory expectations, and reduce unnecessary burden, while maintaining strong food safety protections for consumers.

Small and very small establishments make up the majority of federally inspected plants and play an important role in local food systems and rural economies. USDA has heard concerns from these businesses about complexity, delays, and difficulty navigating agency processes. The actions announced today are intended to make it easier for small plants to interact with the agency, get timely answers, and resolve issues so they can focus on producing safe food and serving their communities.

As part of this effort, USDA will improve how small plants submit and track appeals and requests, including clearer pathways for receiving responses and assistance. The agency will also expand access to support for establishments that may have limited internet connectivity and provide more visible points of contact to help small businesses navigate processes and escalation options.

USDA will update and expand plain-language guidance tailored specifically to small and very small plants to make requirements easier to understand and apply. Additional training and guidance will be provided to ensure more consistent implementation across the field, helping to reduce confusion and improve predictability for regulated establishments. USDA is also strengthening coordination with the Small Business Administration to help ensure small plants are aware of available resources and support.

These actions do not change food safety standards or inspection requirements. Full federal inspection remains in place, and inspectors retain full authority to take action whenever food safety or process control concerns arise. The focus of these efforts is on improving service delivery and clarity, not reducing oversight.

USDA will begin rolling out these improvements immediately and will continue engaging with small and very small plants throughout implementation to ensure the changes are effective and responsive to real-world needs. Additional information, including the full 2026 Small and Very Small Plant Support Plan, will be available on the USDA website.

FSIS Holds Small Plant Virtual Office Hours

On May 28, FSIS held its first Small Plant Virtual Office Hours, a drop-in event giving small and very small meat and poultry establishments direct access to agency subject matter experts. The session ran from roughly 10:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET via Microsoft Teams, with four breakout rooms covering labeling, inspection and grant of inspection, humane handling, and imports and exports.

Participants included small and very small establishment owners, industry representatives, and others. Substantive questions were fielded across the session, with the majority focused on labeling compliance. Participants were able to join and leave as their schedules allowed, with no registration and no fixed time slot required.

This kind of direct access reflects the same priorities driving USDA's broader push to support small and very small plants: timely answers, clearer guidance, and fewer barriers to getting help. FSIS plans to continue and expand these efforts in the months ahead as part of USDA's plan to expand support for small and very small establishments.

New World Screwworm Confirmed in Texas

Late yesterday, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) confirmed the detection of New World screwworm (NWS) in a 3-week-old calf in Zavala County, Texas.

APHIS and Texas officials are taking immediate action to contain and eradicate this localized detection of NWS, following the strategies outlined in the NWS Response Playbook. Federal and state teams have already formed a unified Incident Command, established an infested zone, increased surveillance and trapping, and expanded sterile fly releases.

The U.S. food supply remains safe. Screwworms do not infest meat, and any affected animal would be identified during USDA FSIS inspections. Under the Federal Meat Inspection Act, FSIS inspection personnel examine all eligible species unless exempt or under state inspection. Any product from an affected animal would not be allowed to enter the commercial food supply.

Please also visit screwworm.gov, the official all-of-government website for the latest, U.S.-verified information on NWS. The site is built to support the coordinated federal response and includes targeted resources for veterinarians, producers, animal health officials, wildlife professionals, travelers, and the general public, as well as information from key federal partners-including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and others.

Pilot to Add Swabbing to Existing Inspector Collected Product Sampling Task

Building on the Secretary's Plan to strengthen the safety of meat and poultry products, FSIS is launching a small-scale pilot to enhance food safety oversight in ready-to-eat (RTE) post-lethality exposed meat and poultry establishments. Under current routine risk-based Listeria monocytogenes (RLm) and Intensified Verification Testing (IVT) sampling programs, FSIS collects Food Contact Surface (FCS), Non-Food Contact Surface (NFCS), and product samples. This pilot will build on those activities by adding two FCS and two NFCS swabs to the existing, more frequent, routine product sampling task performed by inspection personnel in RTE post-lethality exposed establishments.

The swabs will be analyzed for Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) and non-Lm Listeria species. The additional data will help FSIS:

• Verify whether RTE establishments are effectively controlling Lm,
• Identify sanitation concerns and potential Lm harborage sites earlier,
• Strengthen public health protection, and
• Assess inspector time and resource demands to inform decisions about possible broader implementation.

FSIS will conduct inspector training in June 2026, focusing on swabbing procedures and aseptic techniques. The agency will use the same swabbing procedures, laboratory methods, and reporting processes currently used for RLm and IVT samples. FSIS will also take the same follow-up actions for positive results as outlined in existing instructions.

In addition, FSIS will assign an Enforcement, Investigations and Analysis Officer (EIAO) to each circuit in the pilot. The EIAO will work directly with the Frontline Supervisor and inspection personnel as part of the frontline inspection team and may assist with sample collection, data review, and other in-plant tasks.

Swabbing for this pilot is expected to begin in July 2026. FSIS personnel will discuss the pilot with establishment management in participating circuits before swab collection begins. The pilot will not require establishments to hold additional product or extend product hold times beyond what is already required for routine product sampling.

FSIS will evaluate pilot data and issue updated instructions prior to considering any broader implementation.

FSIS Posted Individual Category Status and Aggregate Results for Poultry Carcasses, Chicken Parts, and Comminuted Poultry Tested for Salmonella

On June 5, 2026, FSIS updated the individual establishment Salmonella performance standard category information for raw poultry carcasses, raw chicken parts, and comminuted poultry products on the Salmonella Verification Testing Program Monthly Posting page on the FSIS Website. Additionally, FSIS will post the aggregate sampling results showing the number of establishments in categories 1, 2, or 3 for establishments producing young poultry carcasses, raw chicken parts, or not ready-to-eat comminuted poultry products at the location linked above.

Stakeholder Engagement

On June 4, Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. Mindy Brashears joined federal food safety leaders for a plenary panel at the 2026 Virtual Consumer Food Safety Education Conference, hosted by the Partnership for Food Safety Education. The session, Federal Leaders Talk About National Food Safety Goals, brought her together with Gwen Biggerstaff, Deputy Division Director at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Conrad Choiniere, Director of the Office of Microbiology and Food Safety within the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Human Foods Program. Brian Ronholm, Director of Food Policy at Consumer Reports and a Partnership for Food Safety Education Board Member, moderated the virtual discussion before roughly 150 to 200 health, nutrition, Extension, school, public health, state and local government, and industry professionals.

In her opening remarks, Dr. Brashears described food safety as a shared responsibility and made the case that consumer education is part of food safety policy rather than separate from it. She identified Salmonella as USDA's top food safety priority and pointed to Listeria in ready-to-eat products as another major focus, noting that strong inspection and science work alongside clear, consistent consumer messages on safe handling, cross-contamination, and cooking to a safe internal temperature.

Dr. Brashears also highlighted the ways FSIS is meeting consumers where they are, including seasonal safe-handling campaigns, digital resources and the Meat and Poultry Hotline, educational outreach at the Great American State Fair, and a new collaboration with the Department of War to reach young service members early in their careers. She closed by emphasizing that trusted messengers in schools, clinics, Extension offices, and community programs are what turn national food safety goals into everyday action.

Available for Public Comment

FSIS seeks public comments on proposed rules and notices, which are viewable on the FSIS Federal Register & Rulemaking webpage. FSIS is currently seeking comments on the following:

• Until July 6: Availability of Revised Food Safety Guideline for Egg Products

Policy Update

FSIS notices and directives on public health and regulatory issues are available on the FSIS Policy webpage. The following policy update was recently issued:

FSIS Directive 6100.4: Verification Instructions Related to Specified Risk Materials from Cattle of all Ages - Revision 2

Export Requirements Update

The Library of Export Requirements has been updated for products for the following:

FSIS:

• Argentina
• China
• Chile
• Korea

APHIS:

• Azerbaijan

Complete information for FSIS products can be found at the FSIS Import & Export Library.

Complete information for APHIS products can be found at Export Restrictions on U.S. Animal Products for Human Consumption website. Select the countries listed above from the drop down menu for complete information.