USDA to reduce Salmonella illnesses linked to poultry

The effort will leverage USDA’s strong research capabilities and strengthen FSIS’ partnership with the REE mission area to address data gaps

The US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has announced that it is mobilising a stronger, and more comprehensive effort to reduce Salmonella illnesses associated with poultry products. The agency is initiating several key activities to gather the data and information necessary to support future action and move closer to the national target of a 25 per cent reduction in Salmonella illnesses.

Despite consistent reductions in the occurrence of Salmonella in poultry products, more than 1 million consumer illnesses due to Salmonella occur annually, and it is estimated that over 23 per cent of those illnesses are due to consumption of chicken and turkey.

USDA intends to seek stakeholder feedback on specific Salmonella control and measurement strategies, including pilot projects, in poultry slaughter and processing establishments. A key component of this approach is encouraging preharvest controls to reduce Salmonella contamination coming into the slaughterhouse.

The effort will leverage USDA’s strong research capabilities and strengthen FSIS’ partnership with the Research, Education and Economics (REE) mission area to address data gaps and develop new laboratory methods to guide future Salmonella policy.