[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 239 (Thursday, December 12, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67911-67913]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-26694]
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Notices
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings,
delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are examples of documents
appearing in this section.
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Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 239 / Thursday, December 12, 2019 /
Notices
[[Page 67911]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food Safety and Inspection Service
[Docket No. FSIS-2019-0026]
Notice of Request for a New Information Collection: Focus Group
Research to Inform Consumer Food Safety Education and Outreach
AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations, the Food Safety and
Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing its intention to conduct focus
groups with consumers to provide information to inform consumer
education outreach efforts related to disseminating information to
consumers about recalls and outbreaks and the labeling of meat and
poultry products. This is a new information collection with an
estimated burden of 411 hours.
DATES: Submit comments on or before February 10, 2020.
ADDRESSES: FSIS invites interested persons to submit comments on this
Federal Register notice. Comments may be submitted by one of the
following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: This website provides
commenters the ability to type short comments directly into the comment
field on the web page or to attach a file for lengthier comments. Go to
http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions at that
site for submitting comments.
Mail, including CD-ROMs, etc.: Send to Docket Clerk, U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service, 1400
Independence Avenue SW, Mailstop 3758, Room 6065, Washington, DC 20250-
3700.
Hand- or Courier-Delivered submittals: Deliver to 1400
Independence Avenue SW, Room 6065, Washington, DC 20250-3700.
Instructions: All items submitted by mail or electronic mail must
include the Agency name and docket number FSIS-2019-0026. Comments
received in response to this docket will be made available for public
inspection and posted without change, including any personal
information, to http://www.regulations.gov.
Docket: For access to background documents or comments received,
call (202)720-5627 to schedule a time to visit the FSIS Docket Room at
1400 Independence Avenue SW, Room 6065, Washington, DC 20250-3700.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gina Kouba, Office of Policy and
Program Development, Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA, 1400
Independence Avenue SW, Room 6065, South Building, Washington, DC
20250-3700; (202) 720-5627.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Focus Group Research to Inform Consumer Food Safety
Education and Outreach Efforts.
OMB Control Number: 0583-XXXX.
Type of Request: Request for a new information collection.
Abstract: FSIS has been delegated the authority to exercise the
functions of the Secretary (7 CFR 2.18, 2.53), as specified in the
Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) (21 U.S.C. 601, et seq.). This
statute mandates that FSIS protect the public by verifying that meat
products are safe, wholesome, unadulterated, and properly labeled and
packaged.
FSIS's Office of Public Affairs and Consumer Education (OPACE)
develops consumer education programs concerning the safe handling,
preparation, and storage of meat, poultry, and processed egg products
to improve consumer food handling behaviors and minimize the incidence
of foodborne illness. OPACE shares its food safety messages through the
Food Safe Families campaign (a cooperative effort of USDA, the Food and
Drug Administration [FDA], and the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention [CDC]); social media; Ask USDA (an online database of
frequently asked food safety questions); the FSIS website;
FoodSafety.gov (the cross-federal website operated by FSIS, FDA, and
CDC used to promote safe food handling to consumers); the Meat and
Poultry Hotline; and various publications, media releases, blogs and
events. These messages are focused on the four core food safety
behaviors: Clean, Separate, Cook, and Chill.
To collect information to inform OPACE's consumer education and
outreach efforts, FSIS is requesting approval for a new information
collection to conduct consumer focus groups. Focus group research is
particularly useful in studies such as this one, because the research
is exploratory in nature. This is a new information collection with an
estimated burden of 411 hours.
FSIS plans to conduct two sets of focus groups on different topics:
(1) Consumer understanding and response to FSIS Recall Notices and
Public Health Alerts and (2) consumer understanding and use of
manufacturer cooking instructions on ready-to-eat (RTE) and not-ready-
to-eat (NRTE) meat and poultry products. FSIS has contracted with RTI
International to conduct the two sets of focus groups. The focus group
research will address Objective 1.2.3 of the FSIS Fiscal Years 2017-
2021 Strategic Plan (https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/317d14d6-1759-448e-941a-de3cbff289e5/Strategic-Plan-2017-2021.pdf?MOD=AJPERES), which is to ``increase public awareness of
recalls, foodborne illness, and safe food handling practices.''
For the first focus group topic, consumer understanding and
response to USDA Recall Notices and Public Health Alerts, the findings
will help FSIS learn how consumers understand and respond to FSIS
recall notices and public health alerts and provide information to
inform possible modifications to USDA's procedures for communicating
information to consumers on recalls and outbreaks. RTI International
will conduct two focus groups in each of four locations for a total of
eight groups. To increase the homogeneity of the groups, the groups
will be segmented by education level (four groups with a high school
education or less and four groups with some college or a college
degree) and age (four groups with people aged 18-35 years and four
groups with people aged 36 and older).
For the second focus group topic, consumer understanding and use of
manufacturer cooking instructions on RTE and NRTE meat and poultry
[[Page 67912]]
products, the findings will help FSIS better understand how consumers
use manufacturer cooking instructions to prepare RTE and NRTE meat and
poultry products. FSIS can use this information to assess whether
revisions to FSIS-mandated labeling features are needed to ensure that
consumers safely handle and prepare RTE and NRTE meat and poultry
products. RTI International will conduct two focus groups in each of
four locations for a total of eight groups. To increase the homogeneity
of the groups, the groups will be segmented by education level (four
groups with a high school education or less and four groups with some
college or a college degree) and age (four groups with people aged 18-
35 years and four groups with people aged 36 and older).
For each set of focus groups, a local market research company in
each location will recruit potential participants from their databases
and other sources. They will also provide the facilities for hosting
the focus group discussions. Using convenience sampling, a
nonprobability sampling technique where subjects are selected because
of their convenient accessibility instead of random selection, the
market research companies will recruit potential participants who meet
the eligibility criteria as defined by the screening questionnaires.
An experienced moderator will conduct the focus group discussions
and use a facilitator guide, which will serve as an outline and provide
structure for the focus group discussions. Each focus group discussion
will be professionally recorded (audio and video) by the local market
research companies. The audio-recordings will be professionally
transcribed. RTI International will prepare detailed summaries of each
discussion and review the summaries to identify common themes and any
exceptions to these themes.
RTI International will summarize these findings in a final report
to FSIS. No statistical analyses will be conducted.
Estimate of Burden: For the two sets of focus groups (8 groups per
set for a total of 16 groups), it is expected that 1,280 individuals
will complete the screening questionnaire, and it is assumed that 160
will be eligible and subsequently agree to participate in the focus
group study (10 people per group). Each screening questionnaire is
expected to take 8 minutes (0.133 hour). Taking part in the focus group
discussion will take a total of 90 minutes (1.5 hours). The estimated
annual reporting burden for the two sets of focus groups is 410.24
hours, which is the sum of the burden estimates for the screening and
focus group discussion.
Estimated Annual Reporting Burden for the Focus Group Study
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Estimated Annual
Study component number of frequency per Total annual Hours per response Total hours
respondents response responses
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Screening questionnaire...................... 1,280 1 1,280 0.133 (8 min.)........................... 170.66
Focus group discussion....................... 160 1 160 1.5 (90 min.)............................ 240
rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Total.................................... .............. .............. .............. ......................................... 410.66
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Respondents: Consumers.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,280.
Estimated Number of Annual Responses per Respondent: 1.
Estimated Total Burden on Respondents: 411 hours.
Copies of this information of this information collection
assessment can be obtained from Gina Kouba, Office of Policy and
Program Development, Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA, 1400
Independence Avenue SW, Room 6065, South Building, Washington, DC
20250-3700; (202) 720-5627.
Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper performance of FSIS's
functions, including whether the information will have practical
utility; (b) the accuracy of FSIS's estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the
method and assumptions used; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility,
and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to
minimize the burden of the collection of information, including through
the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other
technological collection techniques, or other forms of information
technology. Comments may be sent to both FSIS, at the addresses
provided above, and the Desk Officer for Agriculture, Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget
(OMB), Washington, DC 20253.
Responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the
request for OMB approval. All comments will also become a matter of
public record.
Additional Public Notification
Public awareness of all segments of rulemaking and policy
development is important. Consequently, FSIS will announce this Federal
Register publication on-line through the FSIS web page located at:
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/federal-register.
FSIS will also announce and provide a link to this Federal Register
publication through the FSIS Constituent Update, which is used to
provide information regarding FSIS policies, procedures, regulations,
Federal Register notices, FSIS public meetings, and other types of
information that could affect or would be of interest to our
constituents and stakeholders. The Constituent Update is available on
the FSIS web page. Through the web page, FSIS can provide information
to a much broader, more diverse audience. In addition, FSIS offers an
email subscription service which provides automatic and customized
access to selected food safety news and information. This service is
available at: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/subscribe. Options range from
recalls to export information, regulations, directives, and notices.
Customers can add or delete subscriptions themselves and have the
option to password protect their accounts.
USDA Non-Discrimination Statement
No agency, officer, or employee of the USDA shall, on the grounds
of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual
orientation, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status,
income derived from a public assistance program, or political beliefs,
exclude from participation in, deny the benefits of, or subject to
discrimination any person in the United States under any program or
activity conducted by the USDA.
[[Page 67913]]
How To File a Complaint of Discrimination
To file a complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program
Discrimination Complaint Form, which may be accessed online at http://www.ocio.usda.gov/sites/default/files/docs/2012/Complain_combined_6_8_12.pdf, or write a letter signed by you or your
authorized representative.
Send your completed complaint form or letter to USDA by mail, fax,
or email:
Mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Director, Office of
Adjudication, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410.
Fax: (202) 690-7442.
Email: [email protected].
Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for
communication (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.), should contact
USDA's TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD).
Carmen M. Rottenberg,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2019-26694 Filed 12-11-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-DM-P