On September 2, 2021, five issues concerning foodborne pathogens Salmonella and Campylobacter were brought to the attention of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. Butterball, Perdue Farms, Tyson Foods, and Wayne Farms allied with the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Reports, and Stop Foodborne Illness to address the modernization of current food safety standards in the poultry industry. The goal of the alliance is to meet the foodborne illness goals set by Healthy People 2030.
In the meeting request, the alliance focuses on how the combination of no improvements of foodborne illness rates, stagnate USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) food safety standards and policies, and new developments in scientific knowledge in the poultry industry has caused them to conclude five issues:
- The Salmonella performance standard method is flawed, even if the method shows decreased Salmonella levels in products, and hasn’t improved public illness levels like one would expect.
- The standards that the poultry industry is operating against are outdated and do not allow for modernization as time passes. According to the alliance, the standards should be “objective, risk-based, achievable, enforceable, and flexible enough to adapt to emerging evidence and the latest science.”
- Modernized HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points) plans should address the risk of foodborne illness back to the farm level. It is the Poultry Processor’s responsibility to evaluate preharvest practices and interventions being taken on the farms and during transportation to reduce the risk of Salmonella and Campylobacter in the birds before they enter the processing plant and are subject to USDA FSIS (Food Safety Inspection Service) inspection.
- More scientific knowledge has been obtained for Salmonella versus Campylobacter, meaning that separate standards and “different timelines and risk mitigation approaches” within the National Poultry Improvement Plan should be strongly considered by the USDA.
- Even though science advancements have allowed many regulatory improvements, Science tells us that more research and data analysis is required to ensure sustained progress of Salmonella and Campylobacter reductions, especially concerning specific commodities.
Other people that signed the meeting request include multiple foodborne illness survivors, Mike Robach, former Cargill Food Safety Quality and Regulatory leader and former Global Food Safety Initiative Board chairman, the Association of Food and Drug Officials, three food safety experts in academia (Drs. Craig Hedberg, J. Glenn Morris, and Martin Wiedmann), and former senior USDA food safety officials Michael Taylor, Brian Ronholm, and Jerry Mande.
