March 16, 2015
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has published notice regarding its proposed new federal standards for the reduction of Salmonella and Campylobacter in ground chicken, turkey products and chicken breasts, legs and wings.
| Product | New Maximum Allowable Percent Positive (%) | |
| Salmonella | Campylobacter | |
| Ground chicken | 25 | 1.9 |
| Ground turkey | 13.5 | 1.9 |
| Chicken parts | 15.4 | 7.7 |
The new standard is in response to the increasing salmonella levels as chicken is further processed into parts. Based on FSIS assessment, these new standards would lessen annual illnesses by an average of 50,000.
FSIS also expressed its intention to conduct routine sampling throughout the year instead of infrequently sampling on consecutive days for the assessment of processing facilities.
A comment period of 60 days after the date of Federal Register publication has been provided. Final standards are expected to be released and implemented this spring.