Ag Department To Release Food Safety Inspection Data

Data journalists may be salivating at news that the Agriculture Department (USDA) will soon release facility-specific federal food safety inspection information in database form. It does not do so currently.

The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), along with other state and federal agencies, is responsible for regulating and inspecting certain food-producing establishments. FSIS's main purview is meat, poultry, and eggs. It collects a lot of data in the process, but not all of this data is publicly available in usable form.

FSIS already makes some data available — for example a directory of all the establishments it regulates.

• "Federal Food Safety Inspection Data Will Be Made Public," Food Dive, July 13, 2016, by Carolyn Heneghan.
• "USDA To Publish Plant-Specific Food Safety Data," Meat + Poultry (WTI), July 11, 2016, by Erica Shaffer.
• "FSIS Moves Establishment Specific Data To Open Government Portal," Food Safety News, July 12, 2016.
• "FSIS To Begin Posting Location-Specific Food Safety Data Online," Release of July 11, 2016, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service.
• "FSIS Establishment-Specific Data Release Strategic Plan," USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, July 2016.