USDA has proposed setting performance standards for poultry processors on raw ground poultry as well as raw poultry parts (breasts, legs, breasts and wings). A performance standard for pathogens is a level of positive samples a facility can have. USDA then tests product at the facility to see whether they are in compliance. This puts pressure on the facility to put measures in place to reduce the prevalence of pathogens thus having a positive impact on safety.
USDA performance standards are in place for whole poultry, but as with the Foster Farms outbreak, numbers can increase during further processing such as cutting into parts or grinding. And these products, ground and parts, represent a big proportion of the product people buy.
These performance standards will allow some level of Salmonella and Campylobacter to still be present, but in lowering the level there, the USDA hopes to reduce the number of illnesses that occur. That being said, it still important the people handle chicken in a way to prevent cross contamination and cook it to eliminate pathogens that may be present.
USDA News Release
http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?contentidonly=true&contentid=2015/01/0013.xml
Release No. 0013.15
Contact: Office of Communications (202)720-4623
USDA Proposes New Measures to Reduce Salmonella and Campylobacter in Poultry Products
New Standards Could Help Prevent an Estimated 50,000 Illnesses Annually
WASHINGTON, Jan. 21, 2015 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) today proposed new federal standards to reduce Salmonella and Campylobacter in ground chicken and turkey products as well as raw chicken breasts, legs and wings. Development of these new standards is a major step in FSIS' Salmonella Action Plan, launched in December 2013 to reduce Salmonella illnesses from meat and poultry products.
"Today, we are taking specific aim at making the poultry items that Americans most often purchase safer to eat," said Agriculture Secretary Vilsack. "This is a meaningful, targeted step that could prevent tens of thousands of illnesses each year."
"These new standards, as well as improved testing patterns, will have a major impact on public health," said USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety Al Almanza. "The proposed changes are another way we're working to meet the ever-changing food safety landscape and better protect Americans from foodborne illness."
"Getting more germs out of the chicken and turkey we eat is an important step in protecting people from foodborne illness," said Robert V. Tauxe, MD, deputy director of the Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "I look forward to seeing fewer Americans get sick as a result of these proposed changes."
A pathogen reduction performance standard is the measure that FSIS uses to assess the food safety performance of facilities that prepare meat and poultry products. By making the standards for ground poultry tougher to meet, ground poultry products nationwide will have less contamination and therefore result in fewer foodborne illnesses. FSIS implemented performance standards for whole chickens in 1996 but has since learned that Salmonella levels increase as chicken is further processed into parts. Poultry parts like breasts, wings and others represent 80 percent of the chicken available for Americans to purchase. By creating a standard for chicken parts, and by performing regulatory testing at a point closer to the final product, FSIS can greatly reduce consumer exposure to Salmonella and Campylobacter.
FSIS' science-based risk assessment estimates that implementation of these standards would lead to an average of 50,000 prevented illnesses annually. FSIS intends to evaluate comments for 60 days and announce final standards and an implementation date this spring. The federal register notice is available on FSIS' website at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/regulations/federal-register/federal-register-notices.
For chicken parts, ground chicken, and ground turkey, FSIS is proposing a pathogen reduction performance standard designed to achieve at least a 30 percent reduction in illnesses from Salmonella. For chicken parts, ground chicken, and ground turkey, FSIS is proposing a pathogen reduction performance standard designed to reduce illness from Campylobacter by at least 19 and as much as 37 percent.
FSIS plans to use routine sampling throughout the year rather than infrequently sampling on consecutive days to assess whether establishments' processes are effectively addressing Salmonella and, where applicable, Campylobacter on poultry carcasses and other products derived from these carcasses.
Wall Street Journal
http://www.wsj.com/articles/new-poultry-testing-rules-tackle-salmonella-1421881365
New Poultry Testing Rules Tackle Salmonella
Agriculture Department Proposes Standards to Make It Safer to Eat Chicken, Turkey
By Tennille Tracy
Updated Jan. 21, 2015 7:11 p.m. ET
The Agriculture Department is proposing testing standards for chicken and turkey aimed at reducing rates of salmonella and other bacterial contamination.
Rules laid out Wednesday create first-ever standards for chicken breasts and other parts, and tighten standards for ground chicken and turkey. The rules, aimed at cutting down rates of salmonella and campylobacter contamination, are expected to prevent 50,000 illnesses each year, the department said.
“We are taking specific aim at making the poultry items that Americans most often purchase safer to eat,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement.
The proposal follows an outbreak of salmonella infections in 2013 and 2014 linked to chicken from Foster Farms, a California poultry producer. More than 600 people got sick, nearly 40% of whom were hospitalized, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. No deaths were reported.
The USDA isn’t requiring poultry processors to take specific steps to reduce contamination in their products. Instead, it is proposing limits on the number of poultry samples that can test positive for salmonella and campylobacter before a facility is deemed to have failed the standards. Salmonella and campylobacter are among the most common causes of foodborne illnesses in humans.
About half of ground chicken is contaminated with salmonella, according to the department’s baseline review. The bacteria is typically killed with proper cooking but can sicken consumers who mishandle or undercook meat. The proposed rules aim to reduce contamination levels by about half, to 25% of tested samples.
The department also proposes a 13.5% positive test limit on salmonella in ground turkey and a 15.4% limit in chicken parts. The rules are expected to be finalized this spring.
The USDA doesn’t have authority to shut down a poultry processor that fails too many tests, but it can step up inspections. It is also proposing to list every facility’s ratings online.
It isn’t illegal for poultry companies to sell products contaminated with salmonella.
Ashley Peterson, a vice president at the National Chicken Council, said poultry producers and processors take the issue seriously and could exceed some of the department’s proposed standards.
“The fact is, any raw agricultural product…is susceptible to naturally occurring bacteria that could make someone sick if improperly handled or cooked,” Ms. Peterson said in a statement. When handled correctly and cooked to 165 degrees Fahrenheit, chicken is always safe to eat, she said.
Foster Farms said Wednesday it remained committed to keeping salmonella levels below 5%.
Chris Waldrop, director of the Food Policy Institute at the Consumer Federation of America, applauded the USDA for adopting new food safety measures but said that “this should’ve been done a long time ago.”
“I think [USDA] needs to give the industry some time to meet the standards and then ratchet them down again,” Mr. Waldrop said. “There needs to be continuous improvement.”
Since 1996, the department has implemented testing standards for whole chickens. It has since realized that rates of bacterial infection increase as the chicken gets cut up into smaller pieces.
Of the chicken products available for purchase in the U.S., 80% are offered as a breast, wing, leg or other part, the department said.
Salmonella and campylobacter live in the guts of animals and can contaminate raw poultry when animals are slaughtered. The risk of contamination can be reduced with better sanitation and antimicrobial treatments.
Write to Tennille Tracy at tennille.tracy@wsj.com
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