Consumer Reports takes on Salmonella

In a comment letter filed with the USDA today, Consumer Reports called on the agency to strengthen its proposed regulatory framework that would keep poultry contaminated with Salmonella above a certain level off the market and subject to recall. The framework is urgently needed, given the large number of poultry plants that pose a higher risk of triggering a Salmonella outbreak given the level of Salmonella detected at their facilities by the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, according to a CR analysis.

“Salmonella infections from poultry have increased steadily over the past decade and sicken hundreds of thousands of Americans every year,” said Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at Consumer Reports. “The USDA’s current performance standards to reduce Salmonella infections from poultry have failed to drive down illnesses. We strongly support the USDA’s efforts to enact an enforceable standard to keep poultry contaminated with Salmonella off the market and urge the agency to adopt a stricter rule that will more effectively protect consumers.”

The USDA’s proposed regulatory framework would declare any chicken or turkey product as adulterated if they contain any type of Salmonella at or above 10 colony forming units (CFUs)/per millimeter or gram (10 cfu/mL(g)) and if they are contaminated with Salmonella strains of particular health concern for that commodity.

For any chicken product to be considered of public health concern under the proposed standard, it would have to be at or above 10 CFU for any Salmonellaand have detectable levels of the three serotypes: Enteritidis, Typhimurium, and I, 4 [5], 12:i-. For ground turkey to be considered of public health concern, it would have to be above 10 CFU for any Salmonella and have detectable levels of the following three serotypes: Typhimurium, Hadar, and Muenchen.

In its comment letter to the USDA, CR characterized that standard as too lax and urged the USDA to adopt an enforceable product standard for these poultry products that contain any type of Salmonella at 1 cfu/mL(g) as they did for not-ready-to-eat breaded stuffed chicken products.

While Salmonella can be spread through many foods, poultry is a leading source. Chicken alone accounts for more Salmonella infections than any other food category and has been steadily increasing over the past ten years. An estimated 195,634 illnesses are caused by Salmonella contaminated chicken, costing Americans $2.8 billion per year. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the incidence of Salmonella illnesses in people increased between 1996 and 2022, going from 14.5 illnesses per 100,000 population in 1996 to 16.3 illnesses in 2022. Typical Salmonella infection symptoms include nausea, vomiting, severe stomach cramps, diarrhea and low-grade fever.

Salmonella contamination is widespread in chicken in part because of the often crowded and filthy conditions in which they are raised. A 2022 CR investigation, for example, found almost one-third of ground chicken samples tested contained Salmonella. Of those, 91 percent were contaminated with one of the three strains that pose the biggest threat to human health: Infantis, Typhimurium, and Enteritidis.

For a detailed explanation of Consumer Reports’ comments on the USDA proposal, see CR’s comment letter.

Republished with permission from Bill Marler and Marler Clark. Copyright (c) Marler Clark LLP, PS. All rights reserved.