Consumers to Benefit from Stricter USDA Rules on Salmonella in Chicken
In a long-awaited move, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced new rules requiring poultry producers to significantly reduce salmonella bacteria levels in raw breaded stuffed chicken products. This marks the first time the USDA has declared salmonella an adulterant in raw poultry, a designation previously reserved for certain E. coli bacteria in raw ground beef. Breaded and stuffed chicken products represent just 0.15 percent of the marketplace but accounted for 5 percent of all chicken-related outbreaks between 1998 and 2020.
While this action is a step in the right direction, it doesn’t go far enough to address a food safety crisis that has caused numerous salmonella outbreaks, hospitalizations, and deaths linked to contaminated poultry products for the past several decades.
As detailed in the USDA’s proposal for the new policy, salmonella poisoning from poultry is a pervasive issue in the U.S. food supply chain, with far-reaching public health and economic consequences. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that salmonella bacteria cause approximately 1.35 million human infections and 26,500 hospitalizations in the United States every year, with over 23 percent attributed to poultry consumption. Salmonellosis is the second leading cause of foodborne illnesses in the U.S., after norovirus, but is the leading cause of hospitalizations and deaths from food poisoning. The total cost for foodborne salmonella infections in the United States is a staggering $4.1 billion annually, and the cost for the loss of productivity to the economy is $88 million.
The prevalence of salmonella in poultry products is alarming. According to the CDC, about 1 in every 25 packages of chicken at the grocery store is contaminated with salmonella.
Despite the clear evidence of a problem, major poultry corporations have consistently skirted their responsibility to better protect American consumers from salmonella outbreaks. For example, in a 2018 court case, Foster Farms argued that because salmonella in raw chicken is naturally occurring, it should not be held liable for the bacteria’s presence in the meat it produces, nor for a child's brain injury caused by a salmonella infection linked to its products.
Indeed, the chicken industry often puts the onus on consumers to protect themselves from foodborne illness by properly handling and cooking its products, rather than making them safer in the first place. However, a study conducted by UC Davis found that 40 percent of participants undercooked their chicken, 65 percent did not wash their hands before handling raw chicken, and 50 percent washed raw chicken in sinks prior to preparation, indicating a lack of adherence to recommended food safety practices among consumers.
Adding to the concern of salmonella in poultry is the fact that antibiotic-resistant strains of the pathogen are on the rise due to the dangerous abuse of antibiotics within the poultry supply chain. At least 100,000 salmonella infections annually are due to antibiotic-resistant strains, including those resistant to clinically-important drugs such as ceftriaxone (36,000 illnesses/year) and ciprofloxacin (33,000 illnesses/year). Sampling of whole chicken carcasses from retail outlets revealed 40 percent of salmonella isolates found on the meat were resistant to multiple antibiotics, and 70 percent were resistant to at least one antibiotic.
Unfortunately, rather than work to eliminate antibiotic use in poultry production, major meat companies are moving in the opposite direction. Poultry giant Tyson Foods, which had formerly used a “no antibiotics ever” label on its products, has rescinded that commitment and now relies on the drugs to counter crowded, unsanitary conditions in its facilities.
The usual routes of salmonella contamination in poultry include leakage of intestinal contents and feces during processing, contaminated processing equipment and water, and the hands of processing workers.
The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has investigated 14 salmonella outbreaks and approximately 200 illnesses associated with breaded stuffed raw chicken products since 1998. The most recent of these, in 2021, spanned 11 states. Despite efforts to improve labeling, these products continue to sicken consumers.
Given the history of salmonella outbreaks in the United States and poultry corporations' negligence in this matter, the USDA's new rules are welcome but long overdue. We call on the USDA to continue to take decisive action to protect public health and hold the poultry industry accountable for the safety of its products.
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