The U.S. government plans to issue new guidelines for food companies as early as this week after an increase in recalls of meat and poultry products possibly containing metal, plastic and other foreign materials, NBC News reported.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will advise food makers to start internal investigations when they receive customer complaints and to notify the government within 24 hours if contaminated products are in the marketplace, Carmen Rottenberg, administrator of the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, said in an interview.
The voluntary guidelines, in the works for months, are designed to ensure companies meet pre-existing regulatory requirements, she told NBC News.
USDA records show that since the beginning of 2018, Tyson Foods Inc, Smithfield Foods Inc and other companies have launched more than 25 recalls involving millions of pounds of chicken nuggets, calzones, sausages and other foods that potentially contained dangerous materials.
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Source: NBC News
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