Source: MEATINGPLACE, 1/11/12

Introducing Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) programs into chicken processing plants likely prevented at least 190,000 cases of salmonella illnesses from broilers in the late 1990s, a USDA study concludes.

Between 1996 and 2000, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service conducted its staged implementation of HACCP to reduce microbial contamination during production.

According to a study published in the journal Foodborne Pathogens and Disease, one of the largest observed pathogen reductions in commodities regulated by FSIS was for Salmonella contamination on broiler chicken carcasses.

The study incorporates information from public health surveillance and surveys of the poultry slaughter industry into a model that estimates the number of broiler-related salmonellosis cases through time. The model estimates that – following the 56 percent reduction in the proportion of contaminated broiler carcasses observed between 1995 and 2000 – approximately 190,000 fewer annual salmonellosis cases (attributed to broilers) occurred in 2000 compared with 1995. The uncertainty bounds for this estimate range from approximately 37,000 to 500,000 illnesses.

Estimated illnesses prevented, due to the more modest reduction in contamination of 13 percent between 2000 and 2007, were not statistically significant, according to the study.

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