The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (“FSIS”) published an advanced copy of the long-awaited regulatory framework for Salmonella in raw poultry products on July 29, 2024. After more than three years of research and collection of data, FSIS has proposed limits on acceptable Salmonella contamination levels of raw poultry products, with an emphasis on the strains of Salmonella most likely to cause illness, as well as changes to the regulatory framework affecting written procedures and recordkeeping requirements of poultry establishments.
The framework relies on collaboration between agencies. The Interagency Food Safety Analytics Collaboration (“IFSAC”) has found poultry products to be among the leading sources of Salmonella foodborne illnesses acquired domestically in the United States, and over the last two decades, over 1.3 million illnesses have been estimated in the United States each year. In response, FSIS announced in 2021 it was mobilizing a stronger, more comprehensive effort to reduce Salmonella illnesses associated with poultry products and to support future action which would support the move towards a twenty-five percent (25%) reduction in Salmonella illnesses by 2030.
One example of agency collaboration is in the development of what is known as “preharvest interventions”. These are activities that FSIS suggests poultry processors can require live suppliers to follow in live poultry husbandry. For example, FSIS suggests that ensuring poultry feed is not contaminated, and is in compliance with Food & Drug Administration (FDA) regulations, is one of many steps that can be implemented to limit Salmonella colonization in live poultry, and thus reduce Salmonella entering a processing establishment.
Following the 2021 framework, FSIS shared with stakeholders a draft regulatory framework in 2022 which FSIS was considering as a new strategy to control Salmonella in poultry products. Following a public meeting and written comments pertaining to the proposed 2022 framework, FSIS is now proposing a new regulatory framework targeted at reducing Salmonella illnesses acquired domestically to support the twenty-five percent (25%) reduction in Salmonella illnesses by 2030 objective.
The new 2024 regulatory framework proposes final product standards that would define whether certain raw poultry products contaminated with certain Salmonella levels and serotypes are adulterated within the meaning of the Poultry Products Inspection Act (“PPIA”). The product standards would prevent raw ready-to-cook chicken carcasses, chicken parts, comminuted chicken, and comminuted turkey products that contain Salmonella at the levels and serotypes that would render them adulterated from entering commerce. FSIS intends to reevaluate and refine the serotypes of public health concern every three to five (3-5) years at a minimum and whenever new information on Salmonella serotypes associated with human illnesses becomes available.
Additionally, FSIS has proposed revising the existing regulations which currently require all poultry slaughter establishments to have written procedures in place and implemented to prevent contamination throughout the entire slaughter and dressing operation to now clarify that these procedures must incorporate statistical process control monitoring principals into their microbial monitoring programs. The proposed amendments also provide new guidance to help establishments monitor and document whether their processes for preventing microbial contamination are in control, and guidance regarding sampling and analysis requirements. Establishments would be required to submit their microbial monitoring sampling results to FSIS electronically in machine-readable format monthly.
Once the rule is published in the Federal Register, comments on the proposed framework will be received for 60 days. If you have any questions about the proposed regulatory framework, please contact attorneys Charmaine Nyman, EmmaRose Strohl, or any member of Barley Snyder’s Food & Agribusiness Industry Group.
