
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service’s (FSIS) Salmonella Framework for Raw Poultry Products proposal states that, if implemented, all poultry slaughter establishments must develop and maintain written procedures to prevent contamination by enteric pathogens throughout its entire operation.
Specifically, establishments will be required to include a microbial monitoring program that will involve sampling at rehang instead of pre-chill, paired sampling at rehang and post-chill and submission of those results monthly.
According to USDA FSIS Under Secretary for Food Safety Emilio Esteban, this will give the agency a national picture of how Salmonella is moving through poultry processing plants.
However, implementing and executing these kinds of processes can be difficult for smaller poultry producers, Esteban explained at the 2024 Delmarva Chicken Association meeting.
“In this country, about 50% of the chicken is produced by 5% of producers, and the other 50% of chicken produced by 95% of producers,” he stated. Additionally, through sampling results, Esteban said FSIS knows that small producers have higher contamination levels compared to large producers, emphasizing the need for focus on smaller producers.
“For those 95% that may not have quality systems in place to monitor process control, we have come up with a spreadsheet that allows them to keep track of data,” he stated. “Not only are we giving the smaller producers tools and a spreadsheet to collect this data, but FSIS will also do laboratory work for them.”
While Esteban is in support of the assistance for smaller producers, he added that he is not sure how it will be funded yet.
FSIS extended the comment period for this proposal until January 17, 2025.
The sampling process
If implemented, poultry establishments will be required to:
- Sample a product lot twice during slaughter for aerobic bacteria quantification, once at rehang and again at post-chill, with frequency determined by slaughter volume
- Monitor the difference in aerobic bacteria values between rehang and post-chill overtime
- Document their response to periods of time below minimum performance thresholds in accordance with hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) monitoring requirements
- Share their results electronically with FSIS monthly using an FSIS template or through the External Lab Results System (ELRS) portal
What’s next for Salmonella control?
To learn more about the challenges and potential solutions for better Salmonella control in the broiler and turkey industries, attend the Poultry Future Panel Discussion: What’s next for Salmonella control in broilers and turkeys?
The panel discussion takes place Wednesday, January 29th from 8-9 a.m. EST at the Georgia World Congress Center during IPPE 2025.
Registration is FREE. For more information, go to https://www.wattglobalmedia.com/events/poultry-future-events/.