USDA Finalizes Policy to Protect Consumers from Salmonella in Raw Breaded Stuffed Chicken Products
26 Abril 2024 - 9:26AM
FSIS Office of Congressional and Public AffairsPress (202)
720-9113FSISpress@usda.gov
USDA Finalizes Policy to Protect Consumers
from Salmonella in Raw Breaded Stuffed
Chicken Products WASHINGTON, April 26,
2024 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety
and Inspection Service (FSIS) today announced its final
determination to declare Salmonella an adulterant in raw breaded
stuffed chicken products when they exceed a specific threshold (1
colony forming unit (CFU) per gram or higher) for Salmonella
contamination.
This final determination is part of FSIS’ broader efforts to
reduce Salmonella illnesses associated with the raw poultry supply
in the United States. FSIS intends to address Salmonella
contamination in other raw poultry products later this year.
“Under President Biden’s leadership, USDA is taking significant
steps toward keeping American consumers safe from foodborne
illness,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “This final
determination marks the first time that Salmonella is being
declared an adulterant in a class of raw poultry products. This
policy change is important because it will allow us to stop the
sale of these products when we find levels of Salmonella
contamination that could make people sick.”
Under this determination, FSIS will consider to be adulterated
any raw breaded stuffed chicken products that include a chicken
component that tested positive for Salmonella at 1 CFU per gram or
higher.
FSIS will carry out verification procedures, including sampling
and testing of the raw incoming chicken component of these products
prior to stuffing and breading, to ensure producing establishments
control Salmonella in these products. If the chicken component in
these products does not meet this standard, the product lot
represented by the sampled component would not be permitted to be
used to produce the final raw breaded stuffed chicken products. The
determination, including FSIS’ sampling and verification testing,
will be effective 12 months after its publication in the Federal
Register.
In determining that Salmonella is an adulterant in raw breaded
stuffed chicken products, FSIS considered the best available
science and data using similar criteria as in its 1994, 1999, and
2011 E. coli policymaking. When FSIS declared seven Shiga
toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) strains to be adulterants
in select raw beef products, it relied on several factors,
including the available information on serotypes linked to human
illnesses, infectious dose, severity of illnesses and typical
consumer preparation practices associated with a product. The
breaded stuffed chicken products determination relied on the same
factors.
FSIS and its public health partners have investigated
14 Salmonella outbreaks and approximately 200 illnesses associated
with these products since 1998. The most recent outbreak was in
2021 and resulted in illnesses across 11 states. These products
account for less than 0.15% of the total domestic chicken supply,
but outbreaks linked to these products represented approximately 5%
of all chicken-associated outbreaks in the U.S. during
1998-2020.
Raw breaded stuffed chicken products are pre-browned and may
appear cooked, but the chicken is raw. The products are typically
cooked by consumers from a frozen state, which increases the risk
of the product not reaching the internal temperature needed to
destroy Salmonella. Despite FSIS’ and industry’s efforts to improve
labeling, these products continue to be associated with Salmonella
illness outbreaks.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates
that Salmonella bacteria cause over 1 million human infections in
the U.S. each year. Food is the leading source of Salmonella
infections and poultry products are one of the leading sources of
foodborne Salmonella illnesses.
FSIS will continue to evaluate and, if necessary, refine its
policies and standards related to the oversight of raw breaded
stuffed chicken products as advances in science and technology
related to pathogen levels, serotypes, laboratory methods and
infectious dose become available.
This final determination builds on USDA’s continued efforts
under the Biden-Harris Administration to protect American
consumers, whether to ensure food safety or prevent false and
misleading label claims. Earlier this year, USDA published a final
rule allowing the voluntary “Product of USA” claim to be applied
only to those FSIS-regulated products that are derived from animals
born, raised, slaughtered and processed in the United States. USDA
is currently re-evaluating the FSIS guideline for animal-raising
claims to better ensure that they are adequately substantiated.
To view the final determination, visit the FSIS Federal Register
Rules webpage.
USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many
positive ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is
transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more
resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for
all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy, and nutritious
food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income
for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry
practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean
energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity
across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a
workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit
www.usda.gov.
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