The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has proposed new regulations to reduce Salmonella contamination in raw poultry. The rule, developed after a three-year review, sets enforceable standards for specific Salmonella serotypes in chicken and turkey, aiming to prevent contaminated products from entering the market.
Under the proposed rule, poultry products that exceed contamination thresholds for specific Salmonella serotypes, including Enteritidis, Typhimurium, and I,4,[5],12:I:- for chicken, and Hadar, Typhimurium, and Muenchen for turkey, will be classified as adulterated under the Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA). This measure aims to enhance food safety and ensure that contaminated products do not reach consumers.
In our exclusive interview with, José Emilio Esteban MD, PhD, under secretary for Food Safety at the USDA, discusses the agency's strategy for implementing the new Salmonella standards.
“The effectiveness can be monitored in many ways through our data collection systems. As for practicality, we've been engaging in very open collaboration with both industry and consumer groups in trying to arrive at this proposed document,” he continues, “We don’t want to increase the price, we want to maintain quality. We just want to make sure that it’s safe. I truly believe that there is a way to balance both the improvements with a greater impact on consumer health.”
3 Key Takeaways
- The USDA has proposed new regulations to set enforceable standards for specific Salmonella serotypes in poultry, aiming to reduce contamination and improve food safety.
- A phased implementation plan will require large plants to meet the new standards first, followed by medium and small producers, to ensure a smooth transition and effective monitoring.
- The new regulations will mandate enhanced microbial monitoring and data-driven controls in poultry processing, balancing improved food safety with cost considerations through collaboration with industry and consumers.
FSIS proposes additional regulatory updates requiring all poultry slaughter establishments to implement a microbial monitoring program (MMP) with statistical process control (SPC) methods. The revised regulations would mandate paired sampling at rehang and post-chill. This strategy is designed to enhance pathogen control throughout the slaughter process.
Esteban, with over 20 years at the USDA and eight years at the CDC, is confident in the methodologies to monitor and verify compliance.
“We’ve been monitoring that for years, so we have a very good baseline as to what the product looks like, specifically targeting Salmonella, but also targeting microbial indicators,” he said. “The mechanisms are in place, so once this program goes into action, we’ll be able to measure prospectively what impact we’re making with every single sample we collect.” Knowing this is important, it reveals how the USDA plans to effectively monitor compliance, use data-driven methods for pathogen tracking, and implement the new standards progressively to ensure both impact and practicality across different plant sizes.
The USDA's approach to selecting Salmonella serotypes of public health significance involved extensive monitoring and data comparison with the CDC. Serotypes causing illness and those identified in poultry were prioritized based on virulence.
Esteban explains, “We identified the serotypes that we are proposing as the top three to address. If we can control those three serotypes in chicken and turkey, we will be addressing about 25% of all the illnesses attributed to chicken. This was based on gene analysis from public data, risk assessments, and the input from CDC. We intend to revise that list every three to five years because, just like with people and food, pathogens also change over time.”
These particular serotypes were prioritized through monitoring various Salmonella serotypes for an extended period. All the data is uploaded to a publicly accessible genome database, NCBI. By comparing the 20 serotypes of concern listed by the CDC with the 20 serotypes identified by the USDA, they can target the serotypes that overlap between those causing illness and those found in poultry. After this comparison, they determined that while the overlap includes eight or nine serotypes, it is not feasible to address all of them simultaneously. Consequently, they decided to prioritize the most virulent serotypes for immediate attention.
This proposed rule builds on FSIS’ recent initiatives to enhance consumer protection under the Biden-Harris Administration, FSIS has conducted extensive data gathering, risk assessments, and stakeholder consultations to develop this framework.
Esteban finalizes, “It’s not a big change, it’s a change in the way we approach things, going from a big hammer to a little hammer, trying to reduce all Salmonella,” he continues. “By changing the way we’re measuring and implementing controls, there won’t be a huge impact on industry, and there will still be a benefit for society.”
To ensure a transition, the USDA proposes a phased implementation of the new standards. In the first year, large plants will meet the new standards, followed by medium-sized producers in the second year, and very small producers in the third year. This approach allows for monitoring and adjustment. The USDA will focus on Salmonella serotypes to improve food safety and will evaluate the rule’s effectiveness over time.
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