Advocacy groups have long urged FSIS to scrap those standards for new ones that can be enforced; Consumer Reports, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), the Consumer Federation of America, and STOP Foodborne Illness submitted a joint petition to FSIS that laid out a plan to do that in January 2021.
Last year, a salmonella outbreak in a group of products including Costco’s Kirkland Raw Stuffed Chicken with Broccoli and Cheese caused 36 illnesses and 12 hospitalizations.
They argued that if any salmonella that could be dangerous is found in chicken, FSIS should be able to immediately stop it from heading toward a grocery store shelf or restaurant. But because not all salmonella presents a health risk, depending on the strain and the amount present, that doesn’t mean the agency would have to implement a zero-tolerance policy. Instead, they could make targeted changes, and the agency’s first big move since they announced their plan to tackle the issue indicates they may take steps in that direction.
In August, FSIS announced that in breaded and stuffed raw chicken products—think packaged chicken cordon bleu—it was planning on declaring salmonella an adulterant. That term matters because suddenly, as Eskin explained it, “it means enforcement is available, period. The minute we do that, we can use every enforcement tool. Once it’s adulterated, it cannot be sold to consumers.”
FSIS started with those products, she said, because the way they’re prepared makes it difficult for eaters to cook them properly, raising the risk of illness. Some customers don’t even realize they’re not pre-cooked and think they just need to be warmed up. Last year, a salmonella outbreak in a group of products including Costco’s Kirkland Raw Stuffed Chicken with Broccoli and Cheese caused 36 illnesses and 12 hospitalizations.
FSIS plans to publish the rule detailing the new regulations in the federal register in October, when industry representatives, advocates, and anyone else who wants to will have a chance to comment before it’s finalized. “We are very mindful that this is a different approach than we’ve taken in the past,” Eskin said. “We want to give all stakeholders a chance to weigh in . . . to make sure that the policy we finalize is the best one.”
Another way FSIS could shape enforceable product standards that work for companies and consumers alike, advocates say, is to focus on the most dangerous types of salmonella—an approach that Eskin spoke at length about considering.
While about 2,500 different serotypes of salmonella exist, just a handful account for the majority of illnesses. Other prevalent varieties are seen as relatively harmless. “Salmonella Kentucky is one of the most commonly found serotypes on poultry in slaughter plants and sampling from carcasses and parts, and that serotype really doesn’t cause that many human illnesses,” explained James Kincheloe, an agricultural veterinarian who is now the food safety campaign manager at CSPI. “We need to be more specific.”
FSIS is not currently testing for serotypes, but Eskin said they are considering it. “The tests that we’ve used historically have [answered the question]: is it contaminated or not? The problem is that it doesn’t provide any focus on what has the biggest public health impact,” she said. She noted that one criticism of focusing on serotypes is that it can lead to a game of whack-a-mole: When one dangerous serotype is controlled, another may pop up to take its place.
Eskin said FSIS has also started using testing that allows inspectors to quantify the amount of salmonella found. That could feed into a new standard that is more specific about how much of a certain type of salmonella is allowed on any given product, since a higher volume makes it much more likely that the bacteria will get someone sick.