Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service: Prohibition of the Use of Specified Risk Materials for Human Food and Requirements for the Disposition of Non-Ambulatory Disabled Cattle

GAO reviewed the Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service's (FSIS) new rule on prohibition of the use of specified risk materials for human food and requirements for the disposition of non-ambulatory disabled cattle. GAO found that (1) the rule amends the federal meat inspection regulations to designate the brain, skull, eyes, trigeminal ganglia, spinal cord, vertebral column, and dorsal root ganglia of cattle 30 months of age and older, and the tonsils and distal ileum of the small intestine of all cattle, as "specified risk materials" (SRMs); declares that SRMs are inedible; prohibits their use for human food; and requires that all non-ambulatory disabled cattle presented for slaughter be condemned; and (2) FSIS complied with applicable requirements in promulgating the rule.