UL Develops Certification Program For Meat and Poultry Equipment

Underwriters Laboratories Inc., has developed a certification program for equipment used in meat and poultry processing covered under the sanitation provisions of the Code of Federal Regulations, Article 9 (9CFR). With the development of the new program, UL becomes the first third-party certifier of food processing equipment in the country to apply USDA equipment sanitation guidelines.

UL began developing its Meat and Poultry Plant Equipment Certification Program when the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service discontinued one of its prior acceptance programs in September 1997. With USDA requirements for prior approval of facility design and equipment specifications removed, equipment manufacturers requested that UL evaluate products for use in meat and poultry plants in accordance with USDA guidelines.

"Many manufacturers believe that plant operators will find value in third-party certification to help demonstrate equipment compliance to established USDA-FSIS sanitation requirements," said Tom Blewitt, manager of UL's Environmental and Public Health Services Dept. "The USDA technical guidelines have a proven track record and continue to meet the need. Plant operators want to know that the equipment they buy will adhere to established sanitation regulations, and a UL certification in accordance with the USDA guidelines will help them to make this determination."

Blewitt said that demonstrating compliance will become increasingly important now that the USDA has implemented a new Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point system designed to reduce the risk of food-borne illness due to meat and poultry contamination. Under the HACCP system, it is the responsibility of plant owners/operators to address sanitation issues as part of their HACCP plans. They must not only be able to document effective maintenance and cleaning procedures, but must also document the means by which acceptably designed and constructed equipment is being put to use in their facilities.

According to Dr. Daniel Engeljohn, chief of the Standards Development Branch at the USDA, "The third party certification offered by UL should fulfill a basic need of the meat, poultry and processed egg establishments. FSIS inspection personnel will continue to verify that equipment meets safety regulations and is suitable for its intended use under the USDA's HACCP system.

Engeljohn, whose department is responsible for writing and developing new government regulations, adds, "The support documentation related to UL certification could form a substantial part of safety and use documentation that establishments would want to have on file."