Washington, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced its final determination to declare raw breaded stuffed chicken products adulterated when found to harbor Salmonella in excess of one colony forming unit (CFU) per gram. Thomas Gremillion, Director of Food Policy at Consumer Federation, made the following statement:

“This final determination sets an important precedent. FSIS has never before declared Salmonella to be an adulterant in raw poultry products. In doing so, the agency has moved towards a more risk-based, enforceable regulatory standard. Rather than certifying the safety of a poultry processing establishment, the agency is certifying the safety of the products that end up on store shelves, which is what matters to consumers.”

The evidence in support of this policy is overwhelming. The breaded raw chicken products targeted by this rule have been implicated in 14 outbreaks since 1998. FSIS commissioned research revealed that consumers routinely confuse these products as cooked and fail to heat them to an adequate temperature. In light of this confusion, and the fact that even small numbers of Salmonella bacteria may grow rapidly after leaving the processing plant if the product is not maintained at proper temperatures—during transport and at retail, for example—CFA urged the agency to adopt a zero tolerance policy prohibiting any Salmonella contamination in raw, breaded chicken products. We will continue to advocate for more rigorous standards, but the agency’s determination today offers consumers important new protections against a class of products with a checkered history.

It also offers hope for more comprehensive reform to address the hundreds of thousands of illnesses caused by Salmonella contaminated poultry each year. FSIS has outlined a framework for establishing enforceable, product-based, Salmonella standards for all raw poultry products. However, the agency’s proposed rule remains in limbo at the White House Office of Management and Budget. Hopefully that will change soon. In the meantime, chicken continues to account for more foodborne illness than any other type of food,” Gremillion stated.