The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has withdrawn its proposed “Salmonella Framework for Raw Poultry Products” rule after receiving significant feedback during the public comment period that concluded on January 17. Officials announced they will reassess their approach to addressing Salmonella-related illnesses associated with poultry products.
The August 2024 proposal would have classified certain Salmonella levels and serotypes in raw poultry as adulterants, effectively preventing products with these contaminants from entering the food supply. Additionally, poultry slaughter operations would have been required to implement microbial monitoring programs using statistical process control methods and specific sampling protocols in their procedures for addressing enteric diseases.
The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) expressed concerns about the proposal despite it being focused on poultry, according to an article on porkbusiness.com. The organization questioned both the scientific validity and practicality of the rule in achieving its public health protection goals. According to the NPPC, designating Salmonella as an adulterant could result in unintended consequences, including food waste of otherwise safe products.
In their January comments, the NPPC argued that Salmonella cannot properly be classified as an adulterant under statutory definition since it occurs naturally rather than being an “added” substance. They further contended that existing case law does not support categorizing Salmonella in this manner.
The pork industry representatives also raised concerns about the reliability of the proposed microbiological testing, noting that testing small portions of product would not be representative of all products and should be used only for verification purposes rather than definitive classification.
The National Chicken Council similarly opposed the proposal. Ashley Peterson, the organization’s senior vice president of regulatory and scientific affairs, suggested the rule could have increased chicken prices without delivering health benefits, pointing out that Salmonella rates on chicken are currently at historic lows.
Peterson also said that while chicken producers remain committed to reducing Salmonella contamination and support science-based regulatory changes that impact public health, the industry had concerns that the proposal lacked sufficient scientific foundation and data support.
In response to the stakeholder input, FSIS officials stated they will now evaluate whether to update the current poultry Salmonella performance standards rather than implementing the withdrawn framework.
Commenting on this article, the nation’s leading Salmonella lawyer said, “Any effort to reduce Salmonella contamination in the food supply should be applauded. The government and private industry should continually seek to improve testing and manufacturing processes in the pursuit of safer food.”
