Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro is urging the Office of Management and Budget to finalize two pending food safety rules. DeLauro, a democrat from Connecticut, wrote the office director expressing concern that if the rules are not finalized by the end of this year they could be delayed until 2018, if not longer, according to Food Safety News. The rules at question concern are the mechanically tenderized beef rule and a rule regarding added solutions in meat and poultry. She noted that it has been over a year since the proposed mechanically tenderized beef rule was published and over three years since the proposed added solution rule was published.
There is concern that mechanically tenderized beef products are more likely to cause foodborne illness than whole cuts if not cooked properly, so food safety advocates are calling for mechanically tenderized beef to be labeled so that consumers can take extra precautions. The concern behind the second rule DeLauro referenced is that solutions added to raw meat and poultry products to enhance flavor or texture may lead to higher sodium levels and changes to other aspects of nutritional content.
Source: NAFB News Service
