USDA Drops Plan to Limit Salmonella in Poultry Products
By I. Edwards HealthDay Reporter
MONDAY, April 28, 2025 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has dropped plans to require poultry companies to limit salmonella bacteria in chicken and turkey products, ending a Biden administration effort to reduce foodborne illness.
The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said last week that it was withdrawing the proposed rule, which had been in development for three years, the Associated Press reported.
Officials cited more than 7,000 public comments on the proposed regulation and said they would “evaluate whether it should update” current ones.
The proposed rule would have required poultry companies to keep salmonella levels below a set threshold and to test for six strains of the bacteria most commonly linked to illness.
Products that exceeded the limit or tested positive for those strains would be barred from sale and subject to recall, according to the AP.
The plan aimed to prevent about 125,000 salmonella infections from chicken and 43,000 from turkey each year.
Overall, salmonella causes about 1.35 million infections each year in the U.S. and about 420 deaths, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The National Chicken Council, an industry group, praised the withdrawal.
It said the rule was legally unsound, misunderstood science, would have raised costs and led to more food waste "with no meaningful impact" on public health.
“We remain committed to further reducing salmonella and fully support food safety regulations and policies that are based on sound science,” said a senior vice president of the group, Ashley Peterson, told the AP.
Food safety advocates, however, strongly criticized the move.
Sandra Eskin, a former USDA official who helped draft the rule, said the decision “sends the clear message that the Make America Healthy Again initiative does not care about the thousands of people who get sick from preventable foodborne salmonella infections linked to poultry."
The Center for Science in the Public Interest's Sarah Sorscher, agreed.
“Make no mistake: Shipping more salmonella to restaurants and grocery stores is certain to make Americans sicker," said Sorscher, the center's director of regulatory affairs.
Earlier this month, the USDA also delayed enforcement of a final rule regulating salmonella levels in certain breaded and stuffed raw chicken products, like frozen chicken cordon bleu.
Originally set to start May 1, enforcement is now slated to begin Nov. 3, the AP said. These products have been linked to at least 14 salmonella outbreaks and 200 illnesses since 1998, according to the CDC.
Sources
- Associated Press, April 24, 2025
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted April 2025
Read this next
FDA May Shift Routine Food Inspections to States
MONDAY, April 21, 2025 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may soon hand off routine food safety inspections to state and local officials, multiple federal health...
USDA Disbands Two Key Food Safety Committees
WEDNESDAY, March 12, 2025 -- Two key federal advisory committees on food safety have been shut down, raising concerns among food safety advocates. The move was part of a Trump...
Can't Find a Gastroenterologist? You're Not Alone
MONDAY, Feb. 17, 2025 -- Nearly 50 million Americans live in counties with no local gastroenterologist. Gastroenterologists diagnose and treat disorders affecting the GI tract --...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.