The National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods held a public meeting this week to discuss effective Salmonella control strategies for poultry, and virulence factors and attributes that define shiga-toxin producing Escherichia coli (STEC) as human pathogens.
The advisory committee is composed of leading microbiological and food safety researchers in the United States and provides a source of objective scientific advice to FSIS. A subcommittee was formed to address a series of questions specific to Salmonella control strategies for poultry. The subcommittee was provided with research and data on the various Salmonella strains, their virulence, and biological factors contributing to Salmonella’s presence in poultry. Presentations were made on the bacteria by the Centers for Disease Control, FSIS Office of Public Health Science, and USDA Agriculture Research Service.
Questions on Salmonella control that the subcommittee was charged with addressing included:
- What factors define Salmonella types that are highly virulent to humans?
- Where does Salmonella reside inside and on the surface of poultry? How do these bacterial populations contribute to food contamination?
- Would removing flocks of highly Salmonella-contaminated birds entering the slaughter plant reduce food-borne illnesses in humans?
- What should raw poultry establishments consider when determining the appropriate level of Salmonella that necessitates additional food safety controls steps?
- What methods are most appropriate to measure pathogen levels on animals and on product more quickly?
- What are the top three practices, compatible with industry practices, that could be addressed or implemented to improve Salmonella reduction?
All documents considered by the committee, as well as all recommendations resulting from the meeting, will be made publicly available following the meeting. Previous reports and recommendations from the committee are available here.
