Source:  Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 3/19/10
Of the estimated 286,040 cases of human illness associated with meat, poultry and egg products inspected by USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service in 2009, 272,522 were caused by salmonellosis. By comparison, there were 12,240 cases of E. coli O157:H7 and only 1,178 cases of listeriosis.

Dan Engeljohn, deputy administrator of FSIS's Office of Policy and Program Development, told attendees here today at the North American Meat Processors Association 2010 Meat Industry Management Conference that efforts since 1997 to cut in half illnesses associated with these major foodborne pathogens have resulted in drastic reductions in E. coli and listeriosis, but salmonellosis is on the rise.

"It's not that we're tolerating this number of illnesses; this is obviously a number for which we do intend to put in place mitigations to reduce the number of human illnesses. … Our charge is to reduce the number of illnesses associated with FSIS products at least by 1 percent each year between now and the year 2015. So there will be some aggressive actions."

Most immediately, Engeljohn said the agency is committed to establishing by the end of 2010 new pathogen reduction standards for salmonella in broiler and turkey carcasses. The same goes for campylobacter.

Engeljohn said the goal is to ensure that at least 90 percent of the industry passes the new salmonella standards for broilers and turkey carcasses by end of December 2010.

"So we have roughly nine months to start implementing a program in which we will specifically be driving down exposure of the public to salmonella in turkey and broiler carcasses," he said.

FSIS also has expanded comminuted poultry product subject to salmonella performance standards to include mechanically deboned product. The goal, Engeljohn said, is to reduce the chances that consumers will get sick even when they mishandle or improperly prepare such product. The agency will begin sampling for salmonella in mechanically deboned product.

Meanwhile, FSIS is considering deeming salmonella an adulterant in not-ready to eat stuffed poultry products that appear to be ready to eat, he said.

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