The US is reviewing measures to reduce the incidence of poultry contaminated with salmonella from entering the market.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA), through its Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) unit, said one proposal would “require poultry establishments to develop a microbial monitoring programme to prevent pathogen contamination throughout the slaughter system”.
Citing statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the USDA said there are more than one million illnesses in the US each year caused by salmonella bacteria, with the highest incidence rate in food, particularly poultry.
Following a three-year project by the FSIS to “reevaluate” its strategy to control salmonella-linked infections from poultry, the USDA is also proposing to introduce “final product standards”.
They would seek to prevent raw chicken and bird parts with any type of salmonella, of ten so-called colony forming units (CFU) per gram/ml or more, from entering the marketplace.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said: “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.
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“Far too many consumers become sick from poultry contaminated with salmonella and today’s announcement marks a historic step forward to combat this threat.”
Just Food has contacted the regulatory body, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), for its reaction to the proposals.
The FDA, which has been under scrutiny in recent years, especially following the US infant-formula crisis, is undergoing an organisational revamp.
In May, it revealed the details of a new structure to oversee human food supply chains and agricultural products more efficiently, as the FDA aims to be “more efficient, nimble and prepared for the ever-changing and complex industries” it regulates.
According to estimates from the FSIS, there are 125,000 cases of salmonella illnesses from consuming chicken each year and almost 43,000 associated with turkey.
The USDA’s Under Secretary for Food Safety, Dr Emilio Esteban, added: “We encourage all interested stakeholders to submit comments and relevant data on the proposal as we work to finalise data-driven, science-based regulatory policies to address salmonella in poultry.
“The proposed salmonella framework is grounded in data and rigorous scientific evaluation, and it reflects feedback from extensive stakeholder engagement.”
