For some time, we have warned food industry companies — specifically meat and poultry companies — about the necessity to appropriately protect themselves and their brands against the risk posed by Salmonella recalls. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) both readily acknowledge that Salmonella is prevalent in raw poultry and meat products, including in-the-shell eggs, and have not declared it an adulterant in these products. Even so, the number of Salmonella recalls has steadily increased. This dichotomy presents a number of unique legal and commercial perils that food companies need to be aware of.
There are three primary things companies can do to protect themselves from the unique risks posed by Salmonella. The first is obvious: Continue doing everything possible to eradicate Salmonella from your products. Given the prevalence of Salmonella, this is an extremely difficult outcome to achieve.