Source: Julie Larson Bricher,MEATINGPLACE, 8/14/19


USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced that it will no longer sample or test religious exempt chicken carcass and low-volume poultry products for salmonella and campylobacter following the completion of a two-year exploratory sampling program. 

According to FSIS' Aug. 2 Constituent Update, the agency began collecting religious exempt chicken carcasses and poultry products produced in low volume (average daily production of 1,000 pounds or less) in June 2017. Since then, FSIS collected over 150 samples from religious exempt chicken carcasses and over 3,500 poultry products produced in low volume.  

The agency noted that the data collected is sufficient to cease collection of samples, and it does not plan to propose performance standards for these products at this time. "This exploratory sampling program indicates a higher percent positive in some product categories, although the overall volume of such products in the food supply is low," FSIS stated in the announcement. 

The agency plans to post sampling project results on the FSIS website in the future.

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