July 11, 2011

USDA pushes ahead with Salmonella prevention programme

The US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has announced that it will expand and move ahead on the Salmonella Initiative Programme (SIP) to help reduce Salmonella in raw meat and poultry products.

FSIS' goal is to reduce and eliminate pathogens before products reach consumers, and the SIP will support those in the industry who want to utilize pathogen-preventing technologies and techniques.

"Prevention is the best way to protect consumers," said Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr Elisabeth Hagen. "This programme will encourage innovation by the industry to make food safer while providing us with data and information we can use to protect public health."

The voluntary, incentive-based programme will allow participating establishments to operate under certain regulatory waivers in order to try new procedures, equipment, or processing techniques to better control Salmonella. 
 

In return, SIP establishments collect product samples on each line during each shift of every day of production; establishments then use these samples to test for common food-borne pathogens such as Salmonella, Campylobacter and generic E. coli, and share this internal food safety data with FSIS.

"Our goal is to reduce and eliminate pathogens before products reach consumers, and this programme is one way to enlist establishments as partners in that effort," said FSIS Administrator Al Almanza. "It will improve food safety at the plant level by encouraging industry to test for and take action to reduce pathogens. At the same time, it gives FSIS access to valuable information that will help us continue to develop the most effective policies to keep food safe."