The Food Safety and Inspection Service announced implementation of revised and new performance standards for Salmonella and Campylobacter in young chickens and turkeys. The standards will become effective in July 2011.

Under the new standards, young chicken and turkey establishments will move to the highest scheduling priority due to the initiation of Campylobacter testing for these product classes. All sample sets scheduled for young chicken and turkey establishments will be analyzed for both Campylobacter and Salmonella, and follow-up sample sets responding to sample set failure for either organism will be analyzed for both organisms.

Effective with sample sets begun in July 2011, the new Salmonella standards will accept five positive samples in a 51-sample set for young chickens and four positive samples in a 56-sample set for turkeys.

Campylobacter performance standards and sample set criteria for tracking and reporting to establishments will be applied to results from the smaller of the two laboratory Campylobacter sample portions (1 mL) making the performance standards 10.4 percent for young chickens and 0.79 percent for turkeys.

Campylobacter sample set criteria for tracking and reporting 1 mL results are eight positive samples acceptable per 51-sample set for young chickens and three positive samples acceptable per 56-sample set for turkeys.

FSIS in May predicted that 39,000 Salmonella illnesses and 26,000 Campylobacter illnesses would be avoided each year under the new standards, but has lowered that estimate to 20,000 and 5,000, respectively.

To view an advance copy of the Federal Notice on the new standards, click here: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/rdad/FRPubs/2009-0029.pdf.

Source: AMI