Source: Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE, 10/10/11

USDA Undersecretary for Food Safety Dr. Elisabeth Hagen told chicken processors here they should expect new recommendations from the agency to address salmonella contamination in ground poultry.

Hagen said at the National Chicken Council’s annual meeting last week that Cargill’s recent recalls of ground poultry and related outbreaks of salmonellosis demonstrated the need for a tougher approach to ground poultry.

“There’s no doubt that, in the wake of the recent large ground turkey recall and another recall before that, you’ll see specific recommendations related to the safety of ground poultry that will be coming out of the agency,” she said.

USDA has prioritized salmonella, the leading cause of foodborne illness in the United States, as a pathogen the agency and the industry need to further reduce in poultry. This year the agency imposed stricter limits on salmonella and campylobacter in broilers and turkeys, and has implemented the Salmonella In Poultry program, which allows chicken processors to qualify for regulatory waivers by meeting certain standards.

Hagen acknowledged the poultry industry has succeeded in reducing salmonella contamination rates in recent years. However, she said human illness rates have increased, and the agency is trying to help determine the cause.

“We have a big disconnect. We have seen the numbers (improve) in the volume-adjusted percent positive rate in our verification program for broilers and for turkeys, but we don’t see those same numbers in ground (poultry),” she said. “So, are we looking in the wrong place, are our sampling programs and resources directed in the wrong place?”

Other efforts
FSIS currently also is working on a chicken parts baseline to determine if those products contain higher amounts of salmonella, Hagen said, noting that chicken parts are a more likely source of contamination.
Asked about what regulatory efforts are underway to address salmonella contamination in other foods, Hagen referenced new regulations on eggs imposed by the Food and Drug Administration, but she said attribution is only one part of the effort.

“We do know we have to continue to drive down contamination rates on the products we regulate,” she said.

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