USDA Proposes Policy to Reduce Salmonella in Raw Poultry
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday issued what it is calling a “comprehensive” proposed rule, determined to more effectively reduce salmonella contamination in raw poultry products.
The rule, issued through the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, is a culmination of the agency’s three-year reevaluation of its strategy to control salmonella rates in poultry and protect American consumers from related foodborne illnesses.
Salmonella bacteria cause over 1 million human infections in the United States each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Food is the leading source of salmonella infections and poultry is among the leading sources of foodborne salmonella illnesses.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service estimates that there are 125,000 chicken-associated and almost 43,000 turkey-associated foodborne salmonella illnesses per year.
Despite FSIS data indicating that salmonella contamination in poultry products has been decreasing, there has not been an observed reduction in salmonella illnesses.
“Far too many consumers become sick from poultry contaminated with salmonella, and today’s announcement marks a historic step forward to combat this threat,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a written statement.
“This proposed framework is a systematic approach to addressing salmonella contamination at poultry slaughter and processing, which includes enforceable standards that will result in safer food for consumers and fewer illnesses,” he said.
The proposal would establish final product standards to prevent raw chicken carcasses, chicken parts, ground chicken, and ground turkey products that contain any type of salmonella at or above 10 colony forming units from entering the stream of commerce.
The proposal would also require poultry establishments to develop a microbial monitoring program to prevent pathogen contamination throughout the slaughter system.
“The proposed salmonella framework is grounded in data and rigorous scientific evaluation, and it reflects feedback from extensive stakeholder engagement,” said USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. Emilio Esteban.
“We encourage all interested stakeholders to submit comments and relevant data on the proposal as we work to finalize data-driven, science-based regulatory policies to address salmonella in poultry,” Esteban said.
Comments on this proposal must be received within 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.
Comments may be submitted online via the federal eRulemaking portal, available at www.regulations.gov; by mail sent to Docket Clerk, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Mailstop 3758, Washington, D.C. 20250-3700, or by hand or courier delivery to 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Jamie L. Whitten Building, Room 350-E, Washington, D.C. 20250-3700.
All items submitted by mail or electronic mail must include the agency name and docket number FSIS-2023-0028.
Dan can be reached at [email protected] and at https://twitter.com/DanMcCue
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