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Source: Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE, 3/8/12
In spite of the still-slow economy, chicken processors have managed to turn in a solid record on keeping salmonella under control, according to a study by RTI International and USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.
Thestudy, published in the March 2012 issue of theJournal of Food Protection, examined 182 federally inspected chicken processing facilities between 2007 and 2009, to try to detect any relationship between financial performance and FSIS test results for salmonella contamination, according to a release posted on RTI’s website.
The researchers noted that food processing establishments spend money to implement and maintain food safety practices; during times of economic slowdown, researchers theorized that the companies may be inclined to limit operating costs by reducing these investments.
The study found, however, that financial performance measures were not directly associated with FSIS's salmonella test results that verify process control in establishments that slaughter young chickens except in the few cases where firms were in bankruptcy.
"Our study found that even those establishments under financial stress were implementing food safety practices sufficient to controlSalmonellacontamination, which may address some concerns about the effects of the economy on safety measures in food production," said Mary K. Muth, director of RTI's Food and Nutrition Policy Research Program, and the study's lead author.
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