June 2, 2014

USDA mulls new standards for harmful bacteria in chicken parts

The US Department of Agriculture is planning on setting new limits on a food poisoning agent, campylobacter, in cut-up chicken, reported the Oregonian.

USDA said that by the end of the fiscal year it will adopt standards limiting the amount of campylobacter allowed on chicken parts. The agency now has a so-called performance standard of 10.4% for campylobacter on whole carcasses.

Agricultural Secretary, Tom Vilsak, said the campylobacter standards will be announced as the same time as a salmonella limit on chicken parts. Both will be based on baseline studies done by the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service in 2012.

The agency found that cut-up chicken processed in US slaughterhouses had an estimated campylobacter prevalence rate of nearly 22%, with 24% associated with salmonella.

The adoption of new performance standards follows a number of salmonella outbreaks, with the latest from Foster Farms. Foster Farms said though it has reduced the amount of salmonella on chicken parts to 10%, people are still getting sick.