United States Department of Agriculture's requirements for markers

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's regulation of food and food ingredients is essentially limited to meat and poultry products. Within this area, there do not appear to be any overriding general problems associated with the concept of the use of adherence markers that are deemed to be both safe and effective. Although present regulations do not specifically authorize such a practice, they could be amended through utilization of standard rule-making procedures. There also appears to be sufficient basis, under current regulation, for some controlled, experimental evaluation of the concept. The Department's inspection and label approval systems for meat and poultry products may serve to facilitate such an approach, while providing a relatively high level of regulatory control. Practical problems, in areas such as the scope and applicability of inspection coverage and appropriate labeling, can and should be identified and resolved at a relatively early stage of the project, if the introduction of these substances into meat and poultry products is deemed to be a viable option.