FSIS releases new Salmonella, Campylobacter performance standards for poultry

The changes included the poultry products that are much more common

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that its new pathogen performance standards for Salmonella and Campylobacter in ground poultry and chicken parts will prevent about 50,000 illnesses each year.

USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service’s (FSIS) proposed changes to the Salmonella and Campylobacter Verification Testing Program create brand-new standards for Salmonella and Campylobacter in chicken breasts, legs and wings, and for Campylobacter in ground chicken and turkey.

The agency is also updating the existing standards for Salmonella in ground chicken and turkey to make them harder to meet.

The changes included the poultry products that are much more common than whole birds in consumer kitchens. The agency implemented performance standards for whole chickens in 1996 but has since learned that Salmonella levels increase as chicken is further processed into parts. Microbiological performance standards set a limit on the number of product samples that test positive for a pathogen. FSIS uses them to assess the food safety performance of facilities, and making standards tougher means less-contaminated poultry will enter the food supply.

The new Salmonella standards will require contamination rates of no more than 25 percent in ground turkey, 13.5 percent in ground turkey, and 15.4 percent in chicken parts. For comparison, the old Salmonella standards allowed for 44.6 percent contamination for ground chicken and 49.9 percent for ground turkey.

The new Campylobacter standards will require contamination rates of no more than 1.9 percent in ground chicken and turkey and 7.7 percent in chicken parts.

Of the Salmonellosis cases associated with FSIS-regulated products, poultry represents about 58 percent of the cases, with 85 percent being associated with chicken and 15 percent being associated with turkey. Of the illnesses from consuming chicken, FSIS estimates that 81 percent were associated with parts, 13 percent were associated with whole carcasses, and 6 percent were associated with ground product.

Source: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/regulations/federal-register/federal-register-notices