USDA seeks tougher ban on salmonella in raw chicken

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has proposed banning the sale of raw poultry with high levels of Salmeonella to curb infections, paving the way for some of the most stringent food safety rules in decades.

The rules would ban the sale of raw poultry with levels higher than 10 colony-forming units per gram of Salmonella, which is likely to cause illness, the USDA said Monday. Otherwise, the poultry would have to be cooked before sale.

“This proposal is one of the greatest advances in food safety in a generation,” Sarah Sorscher, director of regulatory affairs at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said in a statement.

“The USDA and industry have been testing for Salmonella for years, but when a product tests positive, it still gets a USDA inspected stamp and is shipped to consumers. It’s time for the USDA to stop putting its seal of approval on foods contaminated with high levels of illness-causing Salmonella.”

Salmonella can cause diarrhea, fever, nausea and vomiting, but some forms of the bacteria can lead to more serious illness. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 1.35 million Salmonella infections occur each year, most of which come from food.

The USDA estimates that there are 125,000 foodborne Salmonella illnesses in chickens and nearly 43,000 foodborne Salmonella illnesses in turkeys each year. The data showed that Salmonella contamination in poultry was decreasing, but there were no reductions in illness.

“Too many consumers are getting sick from eating poultry infected with Salmonella,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement.

In 1994, a beef rule was introduced that banned the most dangerous forms of E. coli. Since the ban was implemented in 1994, foodborne illnesses caused by E. coli have fallen by more than 40%, according to CPSI, a nonprofit that in 2021 asked the USDA to implement a similar ban on Salmonella in poultry.

Is the ban on eating raw poultry sufficient?

The proposed regulations cover three types of Salmonella in chickens that can cause illness: Salmonella Enteritidis, Typhimurium and a strain known as “1,4,(5),12:i:.” These strains accounted for 68% of outbreak-related illnesses over the past three years, according to USDA data.

But the strain of Salmonella Infantis that caused a multi-state outbreak in 2018 would not be included in the ban. If Salmonella Infantis were included, 79% of illnesses associated with the outbreak would be covered, CPSI said, citing USDA estimates. Salmonella Infantis is also often resistant to antibiotics.

“Salmonella Infantis poses a serious threat to human health, and excluding this strain risks rendering the new standard obsolete before the carcass even dries,” CPSI’s Sorscher said.

“In addition to including Infantis in its final proposal, USDA should also ensure that it fulfills its commitment to regularly review its standards and to rapidly address new, emerging risks in the future,” she added.

USDA is now accepting public comments for 60 days before taking further action, including the effective date of the ban. Comments can be submitted through the website regulations.gov.