Consumers groups have petitioned USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to establish enforceable standards targeting Salmonella and Campylobacter in poultry. The petitioners include the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Reports and Stop Foodborne Illness.

In the petition, the group asks FSIS to issue a regulation under 21 U.S.C. §§ 453(g), 458(a)(2) and U.S.C. § 463(b) to create modernized, enforceable, finished product standards to reduce, and ultimately eliminate Salmonella types of public health concern from raw poultry, while continuing to target reductions in Salmonella and Campylobacter overall.  The petition also requests establishments identify and control food safety risks within their supply chains, including risks from Salmonella and Campylobacter. Under this regulation, establishments would identify appropriate prerequisite programs and critical control points (CCP) and establish microbial testing programs to verify program effectiveness by testing incoming raw materials.

Click here to view the petition and accompanying information.