- On April 26, 2024, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced its final determination to declare Salmonella an adulterant in raw breaded stuffed chicken products. We blogged about the proposed determination when it was released in April 2023.
- Under the determination, raw breaded stuffed chicken products will be deemed adulterated if they test positive for 1 colony forming unit (CFU) of Salmonella. FSIS will complete sampling and testing of raw chicken components prior to stuffing and breading to ensure establishments control Salmonella in the products. The determination and associated sampling and verification testing will become effective 12 months after publication in the Federal Register.
- FSIS’s final determination is nearly identical to the proposal, with the exception of modifying the proposed sampling location to provide flexibility and lower costs for industry. In developing the proposal, FSIS considered data from outbreak investigations and consumer behavior research studies and determined that “the appropriate response to protect public health is to ensure that [raw] breaded stuffed chicken products contaminated with Salmonella at levels more likely to cause human illness are excluded from commerce.”
- The final determination is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on May 1, 2024. Keller and Heckman will continue to monitor this issue.