USDA withdraws proposed rule meant to reduce Salmonella in poultry products
The rule, proposed by the Food Safety and Inspection Service
(FSIS) under the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) in August 2024, would have
declared chicken and turkey products spoiled if they contained 10 or more
colony-forming units of the bacteria and if they were contaminated with
Salmonella strains that are considered particularly concerning for human
health.
“The Biden-era proposal would have imposed significant
financial and operational burdens on American businesses and consumers, failing
to consider an effective and achievable approach to address Salmonella in
poultry products,” said a USDA spokesperson.
FSIS will work to assess its approach to addressing
Salmonella in poultry products in ways that won’t “impose regulatory burdens on
American producers and consumers,” said the spokesperson, including by
evaluating whether an update to the current Salmonella standards is warranted.
The announcement comes after some US lawmakers introduced a bill earlier this year aimed at preventing the USDA from implementing the framework. The move to axe the proposed rule also comes on the heels of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s announcement last month to delay by 30 months the implementation of a rule designed to help the agency quickly find contaminated foods and remove them from the supply chain.
The Trump administration also recently terminated two USDA food safety advisory committees,
including one that was researching how to better predict and control foodborne
pathogens, including Salmonella.
While industry groups said the now-scrapped framework lacked
scientific rigor and would have increased chicken prices, health advocates
called Thursday’s move a step backwards for efforts to protect public
health.
The USDA’s decision to withdraw the proposed Salmonella
framework is “disappointing and troubling,” Brian Ronholm, director of food
policy at the nonprofit research and advocacy group Consumer Reports, said in a
statement. Combined with recent federal staff and budget cuts and other food
safety regulatory changes, “the administration is sending the message that
consumers will be on their own when it comes to protecting their families from
foodborne illness,” he said.
“Salmonella infections from poultry have increased steadily
over the past decade and sicken hundreds of thousands of Americans every year,”
said Ronholm. “Consumers deserve better safeguards against Salmonella and other
threats to our food supply.”
FSIS received over 7,000 comments on the proposed Salmonella
framework before the comment period closed on January 17.
In its comments, the nonprofit watchdog and consumer advocacy
group Center for Science in the Public Interest called the framework a
“positive groundbreaking shift in the agency’s approach to Salmonella in raw
poultry.”
“The proposal is estimated to prevent between 765 and 4,300
illnesses per year and cost no more than $0.0005 per pound of chicken produced,
about five hundredths of a penny, an amount too small to be detectable in the
grocery store,” the group wrote. “Clearly, the health of American families is
worth this much.”
The group added that it wished the framework would go
further, expressing concerns that it did not include limits for a subtype of
the bacteria called Salmonella Infantis, “a leading cause of poultry-associated
outbreaks that is frequently multidrug resistant,” and that it did not address
risk from less common types of the bacteria linked to outbreaks.
“America’s chicken producers remain committed to further
reducing Salmonella and fully support changes in food safety regulations that
are based on sound science, robust data, and are demonstrated to positively
impact public health,” Ashley Peterson, senior vice president of regulatory and
scientific affairs for the National Chicken Council industry group, said in
response to the proposed rule in a January statement. “We are concerned this proposal is not
based on any of these.”
The framework risked increasing the price of chicken without
offering health benefits, said Peterson, adding that properly cooking and
handling chicken ensures it is safe to eat and that Salmonella rates from
chicken are at “all-time lows.”
The FDA is reportedly investigating two new Salmonella outbreaks that
together have sickened over 70 people. The agency is tracing the origins of the
outbreaks.
A Consumer Reports analysis in February found that 57 poultry facilities
across 26 states fit the FSIS definition for worst-performing plants based on
Salmonella test results, with results that are higher than the maximum
allowable levels for the bacteria. The designation means that Salmonella
contamination at the plants is “very difficult” to control, according to the
report.
Hospitalizations and deaths from foodborne illnesses more than doubled last year compared to 2023,
according to a recent report by the US PIRG Education Fund, with almost all
illnesses in reported outbreaks caused by Salmonella, E. coli and Listeria.
