Interpretation Response #10-0124 ([Food Safety Net Services LTD] [Mr. Timothy J. Santy])

Below is the interpretation response detail and a list of regulations sections applicable to this response.

Interpretation Response Details

Response Publish Date: 07/08/2010

Company Name: Food Safety Net Services LTD

Individual Name: Mr. Timothy J. Santy

Location State: TX Country: US

View the Interpretation Document

Response text:

July 8, 2010

Mr. Timothy J. Santy

Director of Operations

Food Safety Net Services LTD

199 W. Rhapsody

San Antonio, TX 78216

Ref. No. 10-0124

Dear Mr. Santy:

This responds to your June 7, 2010 request for clarification on the applicability of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180). Specifically, you ask for confirmation that the HMR do not apply to the transportation of incubated raw beef samples for testing.

According to your letter, you are considering transporting raw beef samples enriched with a media and incubated for a period that would allow salmonella, listeria or e coli 0157:H7 to grow to a detectable limit, if present. In your letter, you state that statistically, 98% of the time, there will be no pathogens present. You further state that an individual in our Hazardous Materials Information Center concluded that for transportation purposes the material would not be regulated under the HMR. Therefore, you are asking for confirmation that the HMR do not apply to your operations.

As provided in § 173.22, it is the shipper"s responsibility to properly classify a hazardous material. This office generally does not perform this function. However, if your enriched raw beef samples do not meet the hazard class criteria in Part 173, and is not a hazardous substance, hazardous waste, or marine pollutant, it is not subject to the HMR.

I hope this answers your inquiry. If you need further assistance, please contact this office.

Sincerely,

Charles E. Betts

Chief, Standards Development

Office of Hazardous Materials Standards

173.22

Regulation Sections