USDA Proposal Will Make Salmonella in Chicken Illegal

Salmonella bacteria has been making headlines lately due to a recent outbreak linked to eggs, causing a recall. Salmonella infection (AKA salmonellosis) lasts 4 to 7 days and is typically mild, with common symptoms including fever, stomach cramps and diarrhea. However, for young children, those age 65 and older and immunocompromised individuals, this illness can be severe and even life-threatening.

A huge reason why salmonellosis is a fairly common foodborne illness is because it’s legal to sell raw meat—chicken, beef, you name it—contaminated with it. Here’s why: the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) or its Food Safety and Inspection Services (FSIS) does not label Salmonella bacteria as an adulterant. An adulterated product is noted to be unsafe, dirty or produced under insanitary conditions.

But this summer, the USDA announced a new proposal that will change the way Salmonella bacteria is viewed by farmers, production plants and consumers.

“This is the first time in a long time that the agency looks at Salmonella in a comprehensive fashion,” Dr. José Emilio Esteban, the USDA’s under secretary for food safety, tells EatingWell. “We think that this new framework offers the right approach at the right time to make the next shift.”

How the New USDA Proposal Can Help Prevent Salmonella Outbreaks

The newly proposed policy notes that it would “establish final product standards to prevent raw chicken carcasses, chicken parts, ground chicken and ground turkey products that contain any type of Salmonella” from entering the consumer market. This puts responsibility on both the farmers and manufacturers to implement higher food safety standards in their facilities.

Esteban further explains the USDA policy in components, the first being the pre-harvest stage.

“The FSIS doesn’t have jurisdiction on the farm, but we can issue guidelines of what the expectation is for that bird when it’s prepared for slaughter,” he explains. “The type of housing, the type of flooring, the type of water, the type of feed, all those things have changed over the last few years. So we’re issuing guidelines to industry for them to apply in the pre-harvest environment that would make for a much better microbiological quality of the bird when it’s presented for slaughter.”

Another component of the rule is reducing risk of contamination and spread at the factories. 

“We will be asking for the plants to submit their data on the interventions they’re using on a real-time basis for us to actually monitor at the national level,” Esteban notes. This means that the USDA is authorized to check the safety conditions of production facilities at any time to ensure that regulations are being followed.

Why haven’t these regulations been implemented sooner? We asked Esteban, and he noted that for decades, the FSIS has been adjusting their approach toward poultry contamination. And for this specific policy, “it’s the right time” to move forward with it.

“Technology is available, information is available, we understand the pathogen a lot better,” he says. “It’s the right time to do it. That’s why we’re doing it right now.”

When Will This Policy Be Approved? 

Unfortunately, it may take quite some time for this rule to be approved. More details will be announced once the next version of the policy is published, estimated to come out in the summer 2025. And Esteban expects that from there, it can take up to 4 years for things to become official.

In the meantime, there are some ways to quickly prevent your risk and the spread of foodborne illness. Be sure to cook all meat to an internal temperature of at least 165°F—a meat thermometer can help with this. And the food safety expert has some more advice for preventing the risk of Salmonella bacteria exposure in your home.

“Don’t wash your chicken when you’re going to prepare it,” Esteban urges. “You can’t see it, but if you start washing the carcasses, you’re going to contaminate your kitchen. Keep things refrigerated, separate the raw and the cooked meats in your fridge, and that will keep you safe. Everybody plays a role and if we all work together, we’re going to have a much safer meal on our plate.”