The US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has unveiled a Salmonella Action Plan to tackle the threat of bacterium in meat and poultry products.
Salmonella Action Plan involves modernizing the poultry slaughter inspection system as well as enhancing Salmonella sampling and testing programs.
It also includes establishing new performance standards; developing new strategies for inspection and throughout the full farm-to-table continuum; addressing all potential sources of Salmonella; and focusing the Agency's education and outreach tools on Salmonella.
USDA Food Safety under secretary Elisabeth Hagen said, The aggressive and comprehensive steps detailed in the Salmonella Action Plan will protect consumers by making meat and poultry products safer."
FSIS stated that about 1.3 million illnesses can be attributed to Salmonella each year, adding that focusing inspectors' duties solely on food safety could help prevent 5,000 illnesses each year.
Inspectors will be provided with tools necessary to tackle the problems. Information about a plant's performance history and better methods for assessing in-plant conditions will better position them to detect Salmonella before it can cause an outbreak.
In 2011, USDA reiterated the standards for Salmonella in poultry aimed at significantly reducing illnesses by 20,000 per year. The Salmonella Initiative Program has seen that the facilities are deploying using processing techniques designed to reduce Salmonella in raw meat and poultry.
