USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has introduced a new standard for Campylobacter and a revised standard for Salmonella in poultry. The new rules require companies to reduce the percentage of samples testing positive for a given pathogen to a certain level. This is the first revision to the Salmonella standards for chicken since 1996 and for turkeys since the first standards were set in 2005.
The aim of the standards are to eliminate 65,000 food borne illnesses a year within 2 years. The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service estimates that the new Campylobacter standards will prevent 39,000 illnesses each year while the revised Salmonella standards are expected to result in 26,000 fewer illnesses.
The aim is that 90 percent of all poultry establishments will meet the revised Salmonella standard by the end of the year. The Food Safety and Inspection Service has also published a pair of compliance guides.
The new standards on Salmonella and Campylobacter were one of the key recommendations of the President’s Food Safety Working Group. Agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack said: “We are working every day as part of the President’s Food Safety Working Group to lower the danger of food borne illness.” He said they are “an important step” in efforts to protect consumers from foodborne illness, adding that they open up “a new front in the fight against Campylobacter.” Food Safety and Inspection Service is seeking comment on the performance standards and two compliance guides. Comments must be received within 60 days.
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