The USDA proposed a new policy with the goal of reducing Salmonella in raw poultry products. Currently, the industry performance standards in place, these did little to reduce poultry-related Salmonella outbreaks. One question will be whether this new policy will have any impact on the number of cases that are said to occur due to poultry. Secondly, how will the proposed testing be accomplished without major impacts on supply chain? What are the costs?
Under the current system, facilities look at prevalence of Salmonella using an absence/presence analysis. and based on this, a facility is judged as meeting or not meeting the established standard. In the proposed system, establishments will look at number of Salmonella as well as determine if certain infectious strains are present.
"FSIS is proposing final product standards that would define whether certain raw poultry products contaminated with certain Salmonella levels and serotypes are adulterated as defined in the Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA) (21 U.S.C. 451 et seq.). Specifically, FSIS has tentatively determined that raw chicken carcasses, chicken parts, comminuted chicken, and comminuted turkey are adulterated if they contain any type of Salmonella at or above 10 colony forming units/per milliliter or gram (10 cfu/mL(g)) in analytical portion (i.e., mL of rinsate or gram of product) and contain any detectable level of at least one of the Salmonella serotypes of public health significance identified for that commodity."
"The proposed Salmonella serotypes of public health significance identified for raw chicken carcasses, chicken parts, and comminuted chicken are Enteritidis, Typhimurium, and I 4,[5],12:i:-, and for raw comminuted turkey are Hadar, Typhimurium, and Muenchen. These are the most highly virulent Salmonella serotypes associated with these products identified in the FSIS chicken and turkey risk assessments."
USDA would conduct sampling of products from the facility.
"The Agency intends to conduct a routine sampling and verification testing program for Salmonella in chicken carcasses, chicken parts, comminuted chicken, and comminuted turkey in which the Agency would collect samples of raw final products and analyze them for Salmonella levels and serotypes to determine whether the final product is adulterated. Under the proposed Salmonella verification testing program, FSIS intends to only collect and analyze samples of the final raw poultry products produced by an establishment, i.e., chicken carcasses to be shipped in commerce as whole chickens, chicken parts to be shipped in commerce as chicken parts, comminuted chicken to be shipped in commerce as comminuted chicken products, and comminuted turkey to be shipped in commerce as comminuted turkey products."
USDA would require facilities to establish controls, and as part of that, verification testing.
USDA will "establish new requirements pertaining to how establishments monitor and document whether their processes for preventing microbial contamination are in control. The proposed revisions are intended to clarify existing regulatory requirements related to process control monitoring in 9 CFR 381.65(g) and (h). Under this proposal, establishments would be required to incorporate statistical process control (SPC) monitoring principles into their microbial monitoring programs (MMPs). The proposed revisions would require that establishments use only validated and fit for purpose microbial sampling and analysis procedures, generate and record statistically meaningful microbial monitoring data, set benchmarks by which to evaluate microbial monitoring data, and otherwise define the statistical methods the establishment will use to evaluate the recorded data against the predefined limits."
"FSIS is proposing to specifically require establishments to, at a minimum, implement written corrective actions, including a root cause assessment, when microbial monitoring results deviate from the predefined criteria in the MMP, the other process control monitoring results, or the process control determination made for the entire HACCP system. FSIS has developed new guidance to help establishments meet the proposed updated sampling and analysis requirements under 9 CFR 381.65(g). The new guidance includes a SPC sampling plan based on paired sampling for Aerobic Count (AC) at the rehang and post-chill locations, with a one-sided process control statistical model that charts and calculates against minimum monitoring criteria at the minimum required frequency. Establishments that incorporate the guidance into their MMPs would not be required to provide FSIS with additional scientific or technical information to support their chosen statistical methods."
"FSIS is proposing to amend the recordkeeping requirements under 9 CFR 381.65(h) to require that establishments submit their microbial monitoring sampling results to FSIS electronically. FSIS is developing a web portal that will allow external partners to securely upload sampling information and submit it to FSIS electronically in a machine-readable format."
July 29, 2024
Special Alert
USDA Proposes New Policy to Reduce Salmonella in Raw Poultry ProductsToday, FSIS issued a comprehensive proposed rule and determination to more effectively reduce Salmonella contamination and illnesses associated with raw poultry products. This is the culmination of FSIS’ three-year effort to reevaluate their strategy for controlling Salmonella rates in poultry and protect American consumers from foodborne illness linked to consumption of poultry products.
