Should avian influenza be listed as a hazard in poultry slaughter?

Greetings all!  We just had a BRC Pre-Assessment Audit last week, and received a non-conformity for not listing avian influenza as a biological hazard in our Poultry Slaughter Hazard Analysis.  No one here had ever heard of doing that.  We are an American company, and are regulated by the USDA, which publishes a Meat and Poultry Hazards and Controls Guide for us to follow when creating our HACCP programs.  Avian influenza isn't listed. 

Is this considered a hazard in other parts of the world?  And has anyone in the US ever come across this before?

Thank you all so much!!

I would get with your USDA inspector and get their input.  I don't know if avian influenza is a real risk in the US or not.  Your inspector should be able to provide some good insight.  

If it isn't a real risk you can mention it in your plan, but due to the low risk it does not need to be managed.

Great-thanks Ryan!!

In Canada, I've never had to include avian influenza on my HACCP plan

In north America, the risk is real, particularly spring/fall during migration when infected birds can gather and spread it to other birds...........the risk is destroying the entire food chain, not infecting your finished product

The USDA has a preparedness plan, you're plant may be down for a bit depending on how many farms get infected.......but it's not yours to plan for

Hi Scampi,

Thanks for your input!  I agree with you, it is a problem that we have to address at the farm level, and we do!  I don't understand the thinking behind including it as a hazard in our process either.  The auditor was very helpful overall, and is going to send me the supporting information they have.  I will be happy to share it if anyone is interested!

Thanks again for taking the time to respond!

USDA FSIS & CDC do not consider AI a food safety hazard in the US. I've attached the info I use for support. I am sure there is updated info the web.

All you need to do is show that you evaluated the potential for a FS hazard and it is NLTO.

Keith

Perfect-thanks so much Keith!