April 26 (UPI) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture Friday finalized a rule regulating salmonella for the first time in raw breaded stuffed chicken products. The new policy declares salmonella “an adulterant in raw breaded stuffed chicken products” when contamination exceeds one colony forming unit per gram or higher in an effort to reduce salmonella-related illness.
The policy change is effective 12 months after its publication in the Federal Register.
“This final determination marks the first time that salmonella is being declared an adulterant in a class of raw poultry products,” USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement. “This policy change is important because it will allow us to stop the sale of these products when we find levels of salmonella contamination that could make people sick.”
USDA said its Food Safety and Inspection Service will sample and test the chicken products prior to stuffing and breading to control the salmonella contamination.
The USDA said it has worked with public health partners to investigate 14 salmonella outbreaks and roughly 200 illnesses associated with chicken products since 1998.
While breaded chicken products may appear cooked because they are pre-browned, the USDA said the chicken in those products is raw.
It is then typically cooked by consumers from a frozen state, increasing risk that internal temperatures may not get hot enough to kill salmonella.
The USDA said to formulate the new policy FSIS considered the best available science and data that used criteria similar to what is used for E. coli policymaking.
According to Centers for Disease Control estimates, salmonella bacteria causes over 1 million human infections each year in the United States.
