As most of you know, as a food industry lawyer, I have represented the food industry for over 20 years. During the course of that time, I have closely tracked evolving USDA policy, the strengthening of FSIS inspection and surveillance programs, the continuing parade of food product recalls, and the nearly monthly emergence of new foodborne illness outbreaks.
There are several factors that can make controlling Salmonella in poultry difficult. Chief among them is the long-standing perception held by some operations that processing-plant interventions can eliminate most of the risk associated with any potential threat.
Bacterial pathogens, such as Salmonella spp. and Campylobacter, continue to be the leading suspected causes of foodborne illnesses from poultry products today.
Another recall just came across the news feed. A few minutes before that, there was a news flash about a foodborne outbreak. It got me to thinking: What is the correlation, if any, between the foodborne outbreaks and recalls?
Although the United States Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has been fairly quiet lately with regard to new regulatory initiatives, two recent issuances involving foodborne pathogens should be noteworthy to the meat and poultry industry.
As a food-safety lawyer, these three words send shivers down my spine. They are all exceptionally difficult to routinely control in products regulated by the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). Almost invariably, at least one of these three words is featured prominently in recalls.