Dive Brief:
- The USDA aims to reduce salmonella andcampylobacterin ground chicken and turkey products and in raw chicken breasts, legs, and wingsby finalizing new federal poultry safety standards.
- The agency currently finds salmonella contamination in about 25% of chicken parts heading to the grocery store, and the new standard requires that companies limit that frequency to 15% or less.
- Following a year of testing, the USDA will begin sharing test results for each poultry processor with consumers by posting them online.
Dive Insight:
Because FSMA requires that companies put in place protocols to prevent food contamination and foodborne illness, salmonella and campylobacter prevention is already be top of mind and should be a part of those protocols. A limit was already in place, but the new standards are stricter, so chicken processors may have to further adjust preventive protocols.
并不是所有专家认为这种类型的限制is the way to combat foodborne illness because not all of the more than 2,000 genetic strains of salmonella bacterium will make people sick. Instead, they say, the USDA needs to take a more targeted, accurate approach by having poultry processors test for specific strains commonly known to cause illness, and then slaughter any flocks that are contaminated. After companies correctly implement this new standard, the USDA believes the country will see the prevention of about 50,000 illnesses on average each year.
With a number of foodborne illness reports among food manufacturers, such as Dole and its recentpackaged salads recall, concerns about the safety of the food supply are mounting. But what may actually be happening here is that companies and food safety officials aregetting betterat detecting foodborne illness and stronger at identifying contamination. Better detection could mean better protection—and more accountability for food and beverage manufacturers.
The USDA has also recentlyannounced$30 million in grant funding for80研究项目增加的目标easing food safety and quality, mitigating antibiotic resistance in food, and boosting the resilience of plants.
