On May 1, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) began the next phase of its nationwide Raw Pork Products Exploratory Sampling Project (RPPESP). The purpose of the project is to determine the prevalence of pathogens in pork and use this data to “inform food safety policies.”
FSIS initiated the first phase of the RPPESP in May 2015. During this phase, the agency analyzed all samples collected for Salmonella and indicator organisms and analyzed a subset of samples for Shiga toxin-producing E. Coli (STEC). After collecting an initial 1,200 samples, the agency extended sampling for an additional interim period. Based on data collected thus far, FSIS has decided to analyze all pork samples for STEC in addition to Salmonella and indicator organisms.