Last week, USDA's FSIS announced new federal standards aimed at
reducing Salmonella and Campylobacter in ground chicken and
turkey products, raw chicken breasts, legs, and wings.
Salmonella bacteria on raw poultry and fresh produce causes an estimated one million illnesses in the
United States each year and has proven challenging to reduce
due to the bacteria's presence in the environment. For
instance, even when processors wash chicken carcasses after
slaughter, USDA has found Salmonella on about 25 percent
of chicken parts headed to grocery stores. The new standards will
require companies to limit the frequency of contaminated chicken
parts to 15 percent or less, which should, according to USDA,
reduce annual sicknesses by 50,000 a year. FSIS has also updated
its microbial testing schedule at poultry facilities and plans to
publicly list noncompliant companies on its website as a further
incentive to comply with the new limits.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
