FSIS Adjusts Exemption Limit for Poultry Product Sales
The Food Safety and Inspection Service has changed the amount of poultry products a retail store can sell to hotels, restaurants, and similar institutions without losing its exemption from federal inspection requirements. Effective immediately, the dollar limits for calendar year 2007 stay at $55,100 for meat and meat food products but fall from $45,200 to $44,400 for poultry products.
FSIS based this change from its 2006 limits based on Consumer Price Index changes for these products. The Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 601) and the Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 451) require inspection of the preparation or processing of meat and meat food and poultry products, but they don't apply to the types of operations traditionally and usually conducted at retail stores and restaurants. Sales to hotels, restaurants, and similar institutions disqualify a store for exemption if they exceed either of two maximum limits: 25 percent of the dollar value of total product sales or the calendar year dollar limitation set by FSIS.
The dollar limit is adjusted automatically during the first quarter of the year if the CPI published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates an increase or decrease of more than $500 in the price of the same volume of product for the previous year.