Source: USDA FSIS, 4/17/15

Next month, FSIS will launch the Raw Pork Products Exploratory Sampling Program to collect data on the presence of Salmonell, other pathogens, and indicator organisms in various pork products. In Fiscal Year 2014, FSIS completed a small-scale retail pork sampling program to gain an idea of the presence of Salmonella in retail products before beginning the sampling program. Seven of 120 samples collected tested positive for Salmonella in retail-ready consumer packages, including one isolate resistant to eight different antimicrobial drugs.

The Agency will begin sampling various pork products in federally-inspected slaughter and processing establishments on May 1, 2015. FSIS field employees will collect approximately 1,200 samples of raw intact and non-intact pork products over a projected five-month timeframe from establishments producing greater than 1,000 lbs. of pork products daily.

Sample collection during exploratory Phase 1 will consist of two pounds of various pork products being collected and shipped to a contract laboratory (Food Safety Net Services) for analysis. Product categories identified include: Intact Cuts (including bone-in and boneless), Intact Other, Non-intact Cuts (including bone-in and boneless), Non-intact Other, and Comminuted (Ground, Mechanically Separated and Other Comminuted) products.

FSIS will collect data on several foodborne microorganisms. All 1,200 samples will be analyzed for Salmonella sp. and indicator bacteria including Aerobic Plate Count (APC), Enterobacteriaceae, coliforms, and generic E. coli. The first 200 samples will be analyzed for additional pathogens including Toxoplasma gondii, Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Yersinia enterocolitica, Campylobacter sp., and Shiga toxin producing E. coli. FSIS will use the collected results to 1) determine which pork products have the greatest prevalence for Salmonella and indicator organisms, 2) to determine future sampling for pork products in Phase 2, contingent on Agency priorities and funding, and 3) to develop options for reducing salmonellosis attributable to pork products and thereby meet Healthy People 2020 goals of reducing Salmonella illnesses by 25 percent by 2020, as outlined in FSIS’ Salmonella Action Plan.

For more information on the program, visit http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/data-collection-and-reports/microbiology/special-sampling-projects.

To read the Agency’s Salmonella Action Plan: A One Year Update, visit http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/foodborne-illness-and-disease/salmonella/sap-one-year.