USDA Aims to Make Eating Poultry Safer
The regulatory agency is toughening rules on the dangerous bacteria in poultry products
Chicken, turkey and other poultry will be a safer dinner choice if new proposed rules by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to limit salmonella come into effect. According to the new food safety regulations, poultry producing companies would be expected to keep salmonella levels below a specific threshold (less than 10 colony-forming units (CFU) per gram/ml) and test for six strains of the bacterium that are strongly tied to illness. If testing determines raw poultry contains any of those salmonella strains or at levels above the proposed threshold, the product could not be sold and would need to be recalled. The USDA estimates that there are 125,000 chicken-associated and nearly 43,000 turkey-associated foodborne Salmonella illnesses per year in the U.S. Historically, it’s been a challenge to reduce bacteria levels in poultry because of the speed at which chickens and turkeys move from farm to store. Time will tell if the new rules will translate to fewer salmonella cases.
Matthew Kadey, MS, RD
Matthew Kadey, MS, RD, is a James Beard Award–winning food journalist, dietitian and author of the cookbook Rocket Fuel: Power-Packed Food for Sport + Adventure (VeloPress 2016). He has written for dozens of magazines, including Runner’s World, Men’s Health, Shape, Men’s Fitness and Muscle and Fitness.
